And now it's red!

- Do you know what I saw when I walked through town the other day, mom?? Our pocket dress in red! That's what Anne-Sophie said to me the other day.

And by saying our pocket dress, she means the classic Marimekko Ilonen Takki dress designed in 1960. Happy coat is what the name of the dress translates to in Danish, and what an appropriate name. It does makes me happy when I wear it. (I have worn it so much, that I have thought about buying myself a new one in black again). Children always love to look in my many pockets, and they think it's so funny that the dress has small pockets and big pockets.

Photo from Marimekko

If I got it in the new red design - Kurkistus tunic - it would certainly make me even more happy. So it's actually not an if I get the dress - it's when I get the dress. And with Christmas ahead a red dress is practically an essential part of a woman's wardrobe. At least that's what my husband must know when I show him the dress. ;)

I know beforehand that I will wear it over and over...even after Christmas!

By the way - I need to tell you that the classic dress also comes as a spencer now. It looks like this...can you see that it doesn't have any sleeves?

Photo from Marimekko

It has been far too long ago

...since I made a flickr favourite mosaic. So here you go - a little view of the things I love at the moment.

1. Owl Family, 2. free-motioning, 3. Tjulahopsasa..., 4. Little Snowy, 5. Untitled, 6. Periwinkle Monster and other monsters4, 7. love... !, 8. chicken brooch, 9. Usynlig eller..., 10. Thanksgiving, 11. Les filles onomatopéiques, 12. tweedy stripes..., 13. ., 14. Lovely Design's Lovely Little Forest Quilt, 15. pop bottle curtain, 16. dress shirt, 17. patchwork pincushions in progress, 18. HIMYM top, 19. Abby Jacket, 20. Tula Pink tunic 2, 21. dots 002, 22. Stella's summer outfit2, 23. Stella's top1_1, 24. Wearing a Scarf II, 25. <3

Cool cowls

I don't think that one can have too many cowls - and scarfs for that matter. Especially when the weather gets cold and the wind seems to crawl in through every layer of clothes.

Cowls are a brilliant idea, if you ask me. It is not a new and ground-breaking invention. When I was young we had similar ones - only they were called skorstensrør (chimney stacks(!!) - if it's directly translated!)

Photo from Phildar

At that time only girls and women wore them, but nowadays men use them as well. And it suits them.
I wouldn't mind if my husband asked me to make him a cowl like the one above. It's from Phildar - and so are the rest of the ones you see in this post.

Photo from Phildar

Boys can wear them and still look cool. Sadly I will never get Emil to warm his neck with a lovely cowl like the greyish one above. Maybe I would get more luckily if I asked Anne-Sophie whether she would like to have a cowl with the most gorgeous patterns.

I really like the pink and the blue together - eventhough I think that the wristwarmers in the same pattern are a tad too much.

Photo from Phildar

At least I know that I would adore wearing cowls myself. I have faved an unknown number of patterns for cowls on ravelry, but they have mostly been in one colour only. Using several colours of yarn is tempting indeed - and just using two also make a whole lot of a difference.

Photo from Phildar

All the recipes can be bought individually as kits on Phildar's website. And if you want to see more winter accessories you might like this.

A gorgeous American guardian angle

The day after Anne-Sophie left for her holiday in L.A., there was a flickr mail waiting for me, when I popped by flickr to have a look.

It was written by this sweet and talented woman. (She's amazing at sewing and makes the most beautiful clothes for her lovely daughter).
In the mail Sarvi told me that she would be more than happy to help Anne-Sophie, if she had any questions or problems at all, when she arrived in L.A.

I can't tell you how happy and very touched that mail made me. It really moved me to tears - and my husband too. (And that's not an easy thing to do).
At the same time it gave me a feeling of peace at mind. The kind of peace of mind a mom likes to have when her children take off to new adventures in foreign countries. (Even if they are grown up too!) ;)

It's so fantastic that a woman who practically lives on the other side of the earth, and whom I know from flickr, sends a couple of flickr mails full of warm and caring words, her phone number and her email adress. So many of us could learn from her way of embracing and acting, and how she meets new people with an open mind and heart.

Anne-Sophie was happily surprised and very grateful to hear about Sarvi's mails. - How absolutely sweet of her, she said to me when we spoke on the phone.

I have written it to you already Sarvi, but it can't be said enough - thank you from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful way of being, and for caring. That, I will keep in mind for a long, long time.

Lots of love to you too...

Stripes for Kalle

Washed, blogged and dried. The scarf I have been making for my dear friend Kalle is now done. I have wrapped it as fine as possible along with the book I bought for him, and now it's all tucked away in a big brown envelope. With Kalle's name and adress written on the thick brown paper.

I have put the envelope on top of our old chest of drawers in our livingroom, so I don't forget to bring it with me to the post office tomorrow. So it can begin the long journey to England where Kalle lives.

And then I will go back to my pale pink yarn...

Lili Points

Through a French blog  I became aware of some funny x-stitch patterns. I don't like them all, but a lot of them were nice, and made in a way I haven't seen before. More modern if you like.

Lili Points is the name, and at their website you can see loads of patterns for all kinds of occasions. I think this one is funny

Photo from Lili Points

Mère poule means mother hen - the kind of mother who takes too good care of her childen and wrap them in cotton! But all beacause of amour as the embroidery says...

I bought the pattern below. I can easily see it on a kitchen towel or perhaps a cool table runner.

Photo from Lili Points

I wouldn't mind making this one sometime. 

Photo from Lili Points

But so far I will keep my hands on the cow and the milk bottles...

Late night shopping

Late last night, while I was waiting for a text message from Anne-Sophie to tell that they had arrived, I surfed around the internet. It's such a fine way to make time pass and let your mind flow.

Of course I had to go to knitting and sewing sites to see if anything new and interesting could be seen. My way went by Tanterne as many Danish knitters and crocheters prefer to call this lovely shop. I haven't actually been at the physical shop, but I have visited their online shop - Tante Grøn - many times.

And look what I saw in their children's category - Pippi i blomsterfrø. Those of you who went to Fanø for the Dansih Knitting festival this September, probably already know it. (I read that Tante Grøn brought the pattern with them to the wonderful island).

But I think that it's beauty has to be shown again - at least for those of us who didn't have the pleasure to well in knitting paradise for a whole weekend.

Photo from Tante Grøn

It's a knitted version of the kind of scarf dress I love for little girls. I have sewn quite a few during time, and I don't think that I will ever get tired of the look.

So it was almost the formula for success when I saw the Pippi Blomsterfrø scarf dress - and it had stripes as well!
This is how it looks like seen from the back. I adore those colours.

Photo from Tante Grøn

The yarn is  Bio Blomsterfrø - a 100 % ecological yarn in beautiful dusty colours, and the pattern is designed by Tante Grøn. I bought the kit for the sizes 1-2 years + 3-4 years. It requires the same amount of yarn, so I haven't decided which size to make yet.

Not a bad outcome of some late night shopping.

Yesterday Otto wasn't my favourite name...

Because my beloved dog decided to put his paws and teeth in my lovely custommade cardigan, which I bought several years ago (for 2000 Danish kroner) from knit designer Christel Seyfarth.

OTTO

I was NOT pleased at all. Sadly there is nothing I can do about the many holes in the cardigan. I can't seem to figure out any way to save it...
So, if any of you have a great solution, then do let me know.

Actually I'm mostly annoyed with myself for leaving the cardigan in a place where a curios and happy dog was attrached to it.

The most ironic part is, that I took of the cardigan when I was going to give Otto food. I didn't want him to pull out a thread of yarn!

And off she goes again - for a while

It will not be long before Anne-Sophie and her boyfriend Tim take off to Los Angeles. They have been wanting to go to the USA for a long time, and all of a sudden they decided that the autumn break would be a suitable time to travel.

I totally understand why they look forward to their 10 days in the country. I really hope to go there sometime in the future.

It's truely interesting to visit a new place and meet other people. What is their culture like, how is the weather and how do the local people deal with the many issues in life??
Besides that, it's always lots of fun to get to use a foreign language. And Anne-Sophie loves speaking English as much as I do.

When Anne-Sophie and Tim come back, I know that they will tell us all about their adventures, and probably show a bunch of lovely photos as well.

I can hardly wait for them to come home.

Glimpses of a Sunday

On a rainy Sunday afternoon I did a bit of knitting...

Made the frosting for cupcakes....

Enjoyed the sight of my new old owl...which only cost me 10 Danish kroner...

And felt happy that I now get to wear colourful, shiny, wooden beads around my neck.

Recht & Averecht poncho

Photo from Recht & Averecht

I'm totally in love with this poncho from Dutch Recht & Averecht.

The pattern reminds me of beautiful white and blue china and Norwegian sweaters. I adore how the colours are knit together to give different parts a tweedy feeling. And the string at the neck is a brilliant detail.

I could easily imagine myself wearing a poncho like this, and the high polo neck would keep every bit of biting cold away from my neck.

Sadly the pattern is written in Dutch, and no matter which resource I try to use for translation, I don't think that I will understand that language. Especially not in knitting terms. 

But that can not keep me from admirering the wonderful piece of knitting...

Photo from Recht & Averecht

The Mega-mussel tunic

I don't think that I ever got to show you the Megamussel tunic when it was done. It has been done for a while but somehow I forgot all about it during summer.

So here it is!

I have loved wearing it so far, probably because it's one of my favourite patterns. The neckline was made looser than on the purple tunic, and I'm satisfied with that.

The pattern is once more the same old one from a magazine I have. Next time I think that I have to cut the pattern in a smaller size. Because I know that there will be a next time.

Perhaps it's slightly boring to use one pattern so many times, but I try to give each tunic it's own and unique look. So I choose different fabrics and embroideries to encourage the diversity.

Amio favourites

I must admit that I often turn to etsy when I need something special. Whether it's jewlery, craft supplies, paper items or patterns.

I always tend to forget that we have our Danish Amio as an option.
Of course Amio doesn't have the amount of items as etsy, nor does it represent a vast variety of artists from all over the world. But nevertheless it's very possible to find exiting and beautiful things handmade by talented people.

A few of the favourits below have been on my wishlist for quite some time - maybe you have a bunch of favourites on Amio too?

This beautiful, beautiful dress made by Lis from Karlssons Kludeskab was one of the very first things I loved on Amio. I had better let you know that the dress has already been sold, but that doesn't keep me from dreaming about it - even though it was made for children.

Photo from Karlssons Kludeskab on Amio

The necklace has been in and out of my virtual shopping basket in Fragment Jewls more than once. I was immediately tempted by the lovely colours and different shapes. It's simple in a gorgeous way. But my common sense tapped on my shoulder time after time........until today - so now the necklace is on it's way.

Photo from Fragment Jewls on Amio.dk

The fluffy look and the choice of colours, were the reasons why I faved this lovely hair clip from LisBethlys. It will probably be too much for my short hair, which is every which way (purposely I might add!), but I could easily see it in Anne-Sophie's beautiful long hair.

I will have to show it to her on the computer the next time she comes home.

Photo from LisBethlys on Amio.dk

Finally I must show you this wonderful baby blanket from Butik Pilphinger. I love that it has a bit of another style from the blankets we normally see for babies. It's not so cutie pie like.
The printed insects are just fabulous...