Friday, January 30, 2015

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Changed plans and another finish

January has not been very good for me so far. I am a bit under the weather and our stove called it quits on Sunday, narrowly avoiding our lunch going out in a blaze of glory. Yesterday the new stove was delivered and today I will take it for a first test drive. We upgraded to a smooth top one, the same kind I had back in Vienna.

I made changes to two of my craft projects. Stonecrop and I just did not click. I normally don't mind knitting from a chart but for some reason I felt too fuzzy headed to work with this one, also the yarn I chose did not show up the pattern very well. So unknit it was and I cast on Ludlow instead with a different yarn. Much smoother ride.


After I used some of the leftover yarn from the Doctor Who Scarf  for the 2015 Crochet Blanket I decided that I wanted the whole blanket to look like that rather than using all kinds of colors, which of course means, that once the leftover yarn is used up I get to buy new yarn to finish the blanket.


I have a small finish, the second washcloth in the KAL. I like this pattern a lot.


I can hardly believe that January is almost over but I can't say I am sorry to see it go. I have already made some plans for February and hope I will feel better then and can get them all done.


Friday, January 23, 2015

Thursday, January 22, 2015

My current yarn PiPs

I seem to have strayed from my own 'one project at a time' rule, on the other hand I have enough projects to switch should I get bored with one of them.

Squares for the crochet blanket 2015.


Two pairs of socks.


The beginning of a new shawl.


A washcloth KAL.


A skull hat.


And my Stonecrop wrap, which is a bit slow going, the pattern is too complicated to knit while watching movies.


Saturday, January 17, 2015

The Watcher

Keeping an eye on me while I am hanging out the laundry.


Friday, January 16, 2015

Haekeldecke 2015/Crochet Blanket 2015

Bella, over at herzensuess, is hosting a lovely project for this year. Making a crochet blanket, little by little, a piece every day. And since I really do not have enough projects lined up for this year yet (cough, cough), I decided to join in the fun. I will us this pattern and leftover yarn from previous projects. Here are my beginning squares.

Bella von herzensuess und Simone von lilabuntes haben zum diesjährigen 365-Tage-Projekt aufgerufen, und ich mache mit. Es wird eine Hakeldecke entstehen. Hier ist mein Anfang.


Feline Friday


Thursday, January 15, 2015

Monday, January 12, 2015

Sewing

My first finish in 2015, a curtain for the bath room. It turned out exactly how I pictured it. The strips were left over from an abandoned quilt project.


Friday, January 09, 2015

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Baking

One of my Christmas gifts was a cast iron dutch oven and I could finally try that beautiful bread I have seen on so many blogs. It looks wonderful and we will find out tonight at dinner if it tastes as good as it looks. My dutch oven and I are becoming really good friends these days and it gets a lot of use, from mulled cider to roasting chicken and pork chops it has proven its worth.



A lovely gift

My friend Sabine in Germany gave me this beautiful felted bag for Christmas, and it is the perfect winter coat for my Kindle. I have been really drawn to orange lately and I love it in combination with purple.




Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Yarn Along

I have decided to take part in Ginny's yarn along again this year. So here we go.
This week I am knitting Stonecrop, a pattern by Jared Flood as part of a KAL. I have just started on the weekend and the thin yarn makes for slow progress. And I am alternating my reading between "The Mysterious Island" by Jules Verne and "Edge of Eternity" by Ken Follett.


Sunrise

It was a rather spectacular one this morning.




Sunday, January 04, 2015

Pay It Forward 2015


Hello my friends, it's that time of year again, time to bring a little more kindness into the world and spread some cheer.

So, the first five people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me sometime during this year.

All I ask for is that you do the same on your blog or if you don't have a blog, just go ahead and give some love to five people in your live.

Saturday, January 03, 2015

New (and not so new) Projects for January

I have finally decided which projects to work on in January. There are some that are carry-overs from last year, so to speak, and a few brand new ones. Let us begin with the old ones.

I will continue and hopefully finish my monthly heart quilts, I made it to April last year and then it got too warm and my motivation went on a walkabout. So, I will continue with May in January.


The adorable advent animals will be continued, I am currently working on Cashmere Camel who is # 6.


I plan to hand quilt this wall hanging to hopefully turn it into a gift.


And now on to some brand new projects.

I plan to knit at least one pair of socks every month. This is the pattern and the yarn for the January pair.


I will crochet a cat shawl for myself


And I joined the Flood's Flock KAL for which I will knit Stonecrop, a garter stitch lace shawl, with yarn from my stash.


And last but not least I just discovered these adorable cross stitch kitties for each month and found them irresistible.

There will probably be a Christmas project along the way as well but I have not yet decided what it will be for this month. And there is a sweater and a scarf to finish.

These should keep me busy and out of trouble for a while.