A new aggregat

My husband made me a new aggregate. A yarn holder!

I have missed one of those for ages, and meanwhile I have been very irritated at all the tangled threads, whenever I have been knitting something with many different colours of yarn. And at the same time I didn't want to buy and spend several hundreds of kroner on one, when I knew that Christian could make me a very fine yarn holder.

Christian made it from a heavy piece of oak wood and some metal sticks. It's so useful and I love that he put his time and effort in to it.

The wooden bottom doesn't move when I knit, something which I had pointed out as an important matter, before Christian started making it. We have searched for some metal helical eyes, to make the threads go through, but we haven't had the luck yet.

It works perfectly without them, though - and I especially love that the big spools with 5 kilos of yarn or more, don't turn over every time I pull out yarn.

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Min mand har lavet et nyt aggregat til mig. En garnholder.

Jeg har manglet sådan en i evigheder, og imens har jeg været frygtelig irriteret over alle de filtrede tråde, når jeg har strikket noget med mange forskellige farver. Og samtidig ville jeg ikke købe en og betale flere hundrede kroner for den, når jeg vidste at Christian kunne lave en rigtig fin garnholder til mig.

Christian lavede den af et tungt stykke egetræ og nogle metal pinde (i mangel af bedre ord). Den er så anvendelig og jeg elsker at han har lagt tid og kræfter i den.

Træbunden bevæger sig ikke når jeg strikker, noget jeg havde fremhævet som en vigtig detalje, før Christian begyndte at lave den. Vi har ledt efter nogle metal lignende spiraler, som trådene skulle gå igennem, men vi har ikke haft heldet med os endnu.

Den virker dog perfekt uden dem - og jeg kan specielt godt lide at de store spoler med 5 kilo garn, eller mere, ikke vælter når jeg trækker i garnet.

Ikke så mange ord....

 ...bare et par billeder af en lille hat til vores niece Sarah.

Cascade garn + knapper fra Betty P + refleksgarn giver forhåbentlig varme ører.

Hurra for Betty P's vidunderlige neon tråde

For et stykke tid siden begyndte jeg på et lille broderi. 

Jeg syer med den smukke koral farvede neontråd fra Betty P. Fra jeg så neontrådene for første gang, har de indbudt til at blive omsat til små broderisting.

At jeg købte alle de 5 ruller tråd i neon nuancer har jeg ikke fortrudt et sekund. Adskillige projekter har fået tilføjet et lille neon pift, og det er simpelthen en fornøjelse at arbejde med de livlige farver og den stærke tråd.

Neon embroidery on a new tunic for me, a photo by lille-ursus on Flickr.

Jeg laver bogstaver på en tunika jeg syede til mig selv i sensommeren. Den er lavet i en let chambrey i grå. Jeg holder meget af den slags stof, da det ikke blot er én stor flade af en bestemt farve, men derimod et virvar af grå tråde på kryds og på tværs.

Hvad jeg skriver med neon er ikke til at vide...forhåbentlig dukker det op inden længe.

I'm repeating myself...

CIRKA number 2 is done after lying in my knitting basket for days, waiting to be fitted with a suitable button.   

At first I wanted it to get a knotted button, but my attempts to make one, didn't become well. It seemed too small.

So I found the Saftevandsknapper I bought a while ago at Tante Grøn, and used a light lime coloured piece of yarn to sewn one on to the top.

Soon I will try to make myself knit on my existing ongoing knits. The little Buds cardigan, Christian's Alfred and the Gathering Stripes for Thorbjørn. (The last one has been on hold ever since I was told that Thorbjørn has a hard time wearing any knits! I kind of lost the mojo for that particular sweater).

H a p p y

I dag skal der ikke mere til at gøre mig glad end super smukke farver, en masse solskinstimer....og mest af alt at Emil har det en lille smule bedre :)

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Today it doesn't take more to make me happy than some beautiful colours, a lot of hours with sunshine...and most of all the fact that Emil is feeling a little bit better. :)

T h a n k - G o d - f o r - Betty P.

I'm so happy that the online shop Betty P. has started. Since Små Tekstiler closed I have missed a shop with haberdashery of the good kind. Something you don't come across every day. Something which radiates fine quality.

This is my 2nd order from Betty P. and I'm very pleased at shopping there. The pink and white Gingham button at the back of the photo, was intended for my Liselotte cardigan. But after testing the button on the yarn, I have decided that another one is needed. But no harm is done - I know that it will come in handy one day soon.

All the way from Italy...

...came these shiny bells. They look as if each and every one has been painted and lacquered - one after the other.

The most lovely bells I have ever seen. So I ended up buying the stock of this particular kind. 

It will not be long before I have to use a few of them. But the rest will be saved in a transparant box. Or maybe I should put them all on a long piece of string, and let them do what they do best - jingle.

Klip-selv-ark

I tell myself that I haven't bought new Christmas ornaments for several years - no new Maileg nisser or any Noilly Noël figurines like I used to. And it's actually true.

So with that in mind - and forgetting all about the beautiful angles from Karina Bækkelund (which arrived yesterday and they are SO lovely!) - I bought the most wonderful knitted and felted Christmas DIY set from Sort Lakrids.

I know that I will love to look at it all for many years ahead, without getting bored of it. And most importanly it will make me smile.

Photo from Sort Lakrids

The Christmas set is made by Theresa Jessing and Line Dyrholm. Both artists whom I love for their unique way of expressing themselves.

Hopefully I will be cutting and sewing in a matter of days...

Photo from Sort Lakrids

Brave new (sewing) world

Have you ever seen anything like this pair of scissors??? With a laser light to show you how to cut straight!

It's absolutely a first time for me...and I think that it will stay that way.

If this technological marvel all of a sudden has become your most wanted Christmas wish, you can find it right here. ;)

Ready for a second life

Yesterday Anne-Sophie came to pick up her new machine - or should I say new old machine.

When I got my new sewing machine a few years ago, I promised Anne-Sophie that she could have my old Singer. (Actually Emil was supposed to use it as well, if he ever had the need for it! I have a feeling that it might never occur again. I think that we must see it as a thing he loved to do, once in a while, when he was a very little boy). ;)

The old Singer has been standing at home waiting for Anne-Sophie to need it. And so she did yesterday.

She is making a project at the architecture school, which needed just that kind of tool. Now I hope that having the sewing machine close by, will inspire her to sew again. She used to sew when she lived at home, but in recent years she has been too occupied by her studies.

The Singer was my very first sewing machine and a graduation gift from Christian. I still remember how happy it made me, when I opened the present.  A gift he knew I would cherish and use a lot.

By now it's time that it starts a new life, with new hands operating the buttons and buttom thread - and another person who finds out about all the many funny advantages and - not so funny - disadvantages such an old machine has.
I know that it will do a good job, even though it has become a bit more yellow over the years.

I couldn't be more delighted about the new owner...I hope that she will get as many wonderful hours of creating with it, as I have had...

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...

My intensions were good...

When we packed our bags to go on holiday, I also prepared a fabric tote and a plastic bag with items for all the crafting I was going to do in the cottage we rented at the North Sea.

I brought linen, embroidery floss, cotton yarn, the 2 new embroidery kits I recently bought, more yarn, hooks to match the yarn, a pair of scissors, large pieces of extra thick carton and 2 different knitting books.

As usual my husband laughed at me when he picked up my stuff, and put it in our car.

But I knew that I would get to make loads of things from all my supplies, so I didn't mind him laughing...

However...

The things you see in the photo, are what I got around to making in the 7 days we were there! 3 lousy attempts at crocheting cirlces and a tiny pile of carton hexagons for a patchwork blanket.

Never before have I made ​​so little handwork during a holiday...I wonder what happened?

Well, I know the answer to that question myself. I simply enjoyed being with my family  (I always do that!)  playing, talking, bathing and all the other lovely things you make with your loved ones, when everyday life has been put on standby for a while.

And I loved it - SO much.

When a bit brings a lot of joy

New bias tape, a photo by lille-ursus on Flickr.

I haven't had any new bias tape for a long, long time. (I really wish that Danish shops would carry more interesting bias tapes).

But a while ago I saw these beautiful ones on Dawanda. Especially the green sparkly one, was super cool. It would be great at the neckline of a dress - and I wouldn't mind if it was my dress. Or maybe at the top of a pocket?

I love it when tiny things creates big smiles...

Buttons, buttons, buttons

An item which one can never ever get too many of.
A special and lovely button really makes the difference. Like these from Veronicabuttons on etsy.
Now I try to look for an excuse to buy them all...

Or another fantastic ceramic button like the big, white one you find here on Sort Lakrids.

Embroidered buttons definitely inspire me as well. I'm a huge fan of Birthine's buttons. They are little pieces of art each and everyone. You can also find them on flickr - she actually makes some from ceramic as well.

But I guess that the ones I love the most, are ordinary oldfashioned white linen buttons like the one you see below (from Stofstedet) .
Their simple look make everything look better, and I remember how I used to play with my mother's linen buttons. Maybe that's the reason why I love them so much...

Now I know...

...which colour the buttons are going to be in the little Nova dress I'm knitting. Turquoise!

I knew that from the very minute I weaved in the turquoise embroidery floss, to mark where the decreasings were going to be made.

And I have an idea about which buttons I want to use - or should I say which I want to make...

 

A whole different choice

Remember this??

Well, I ended up in a different shop where I had other colour options. 

Actually I had made up my mind, and had picked out the teal one with the yellow letters. But before buying tags in that look, I wanted to see what else was on the market.

I headed for the shop I used when I bought my old tags. And it had something which tempted me even more.

So these are the 2 woven tags I ordered a while ago. 100 pieces in each colour combination. I'm happy about the fact, that I chose a girlish and a boyish tag. So now I'm ready to make more stuff for our nieces and nephews.

Oh my, I'm exited to see how the woven tags look like in real life...

Creative clutter

Somehow I always end up making creative clutter. Especially with floss, books, yarn, needles and patterns.

I need to have them close by, in case I get a thought about someting to make. Otherwise I forget about them. Don't you know the feeling of seing a beautiful mix of colours or a texture in a knitted sweater, which you wan't to try out in the future?

So I always have a notebook with me as well.  It's filled with drawings and little notes which only I know the meaning of - and small torn out pieces of magazines and papers.

No one but me likes my creative clutter. Even though I confine myself to a very limited area, I get the occasional "do you know where your needles are" comment from my husband.
Then I know that it's time to gather - some of - my stuff and take it upstairs to our hobby room.

But after a day or two, I have created a new little pile of creative clutter...I'm hopeless!

Which one shall I pick this time??

Whenever I sew and knit some clothes for myself, for my family or for gifts I always sew on a little woven label with the name ursus on it.

It started many years ago when I had the thought, that it would be funny to get the ursus name put on a woven label (ursus means bear in latin, and my name Ulla means the little she bear, so hence the name of my blog lille-ursus, which is a mix of Latin and Danish. Lille-ursus means little bear). Did that make sence?

Back then I ordered a lot of labels with this look, but now I'm soon out of labels and it's time to order some new ones.

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And this time I would like to use new colours. I have spent a lot of time on mixing colours and fonts to the very right label, but I'm still not sure which one I prefere. (And I have to keep in mand that the label must look good on both girls and boys).

I do already have a few favourites, though.

But with all you clever people out there, I wouldn't mind getting your opinion on the issue.

Which new label do you like - or do you like the old one better?

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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?

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.