A new challenge, reading more

Because I like a challenge I have in addition to the A to Z challenge decided to try and read 52 books this year. We are already in week 13, but I have read six books already this year, and I only started in the last week of February so I am not sure if I am able to read 52 books before the end of the year or not or if my goal is before the end of the last week of next february. Since crocheting has been what I have been doing mostly these past few years I have hardly read anything, reading whilst crocheting is not easy to do (unless you have an audiobook, I'll try to do that later).

I love books and I love reading so I have decided to try and read more this year, and to help me do that I gave myself this goal and I will try to write a little about the books I have read about once a month.

First books.

Sigbjørn Mostue, imorgen er alt mørkt, Brages historie

Sigbjørn Mostue. imorgen er alt mørkt, Marlenes historie

I will talk about these two books as one. This is a youth novel, but I found it rather interesting, the book was easy to read since it was meant for younger readers, but the story was rather good. The characters acted like humans, they were flawed and made bad decisions had conflicting emotions and tried to maintain relationships in an unusual circumstance. The world is ending, humans  are getting sick and killing other humans and the characters struggle to survive while thinking about the morals of killing other humans. Both books end with a cliffhanger and I hope there will be more in this series. I would have loved this book when I was a teenager.

Knut Nærum, Monster

I liked this book. Because of global warming the ice caps have melted and everyone thinks the polar bears are dead. Turns out they are not, they are migrating towards humans and eating everything in their way. The polar bears don't behave like polar bears anymore and are unpredictable bloodthirsty monsters killing everything in their way. Despite human tries to save them and contain them things get from bad to worst and most Norwegians want the polar bears exterminated. What will happen in the end?

As I said, I liked this book, although I am not sure someone without knowledge of Norwegian celebrities and politicians will get as much out of this since there are real politicians in this and celebrities which you can guess who the characters are based on. (which the author does a lot)

This is series of books, all are free standing and the topic of these books are crime.

Knut Nærum, Døde menn går på ski

My mother gave me this book years ago around easter time and I remember I loved it. It was scary as I was in our cabin deep in the forest and the book is set in a cabin in the montains and then people are killed off, the main character tries to figure out who the killer is with a little help from a psychiatrist. There are plot twists and deaths on every page and as much as I tried I could not figure out who the killer was.

Knut Nærum has in all three books the same protagonist and the same chapter set-up which I thought was funny. The chapters have names such as:  Chapter 1- Where we get an interesting offer. 

Knut Nærum, De dødes båt

This book is set in summertime on a small island with a native fisherman a rich family with their extended family and then a murder. Then more people die and Kjell Nilsen the author who writes murder books try to solve the crime with a private detective, the police seem to fumble about and do more damage than good. Could the killer be supernatural?

Knut Nærum, Voodoo på Vestkanten

The last book in the series, Kjell Nilsen stumble into another mystery, there might be voodoo involved and he enlists the help of a rather reluctant private eye and tries to solve the case.

Is the first death accidental or murder? Could someone be killing using voodoo?

I think I liked the first book in the series the best as the story is familiar and classic with a twist. 

All photos are taken from Google.

The Wedding blanket squares five

Starfire

I love that name, suits a wedding blanket very much.

Block number 5 Starfire by Melinda Miller

I really liked this block, it was rather easy and the purple pinkish colour works so well with the blue I chose. My friend *Kio did hers in blue and green, but we both have white and darker blue, I like seeing how different colours really change the expression of the squares. *Kio's square seem more subdued than mine I think while mine seem to tease a little and invite someone to play. I think it is the purple that does it.

This block also took about four hours of just the block without the added three rows of DC, it weighed 30 grams and was 21 cm x 21 cm as all squares where after blocking and additional rows. The difficulties of crocheting together when adding extra rows and therefor different number of stitches was something we just had to work around, Dedri who hosted the cal did a good job of making sure all squares had the same number of stitches and the same size so that joining them together would be easier, but we had a bit of trouble making ours the same size when using Dedri's alterations so we just winged it. It worked out fine in the end. The blanket is square and looks like it was supposed to look like that but I thought it worth mentioning in case anyone else wanted to do this cal.

A to Z challenge Theme

I joined the A to Z challenge and will be blogging about things from A to Z starting this Friday.

My theme for these blogposts will be Håndarbeid which is a Norwegian term, directly translated it means hand work, to work with one's hands but the word one would use in English would be needlework. 

Since I think the Norwegian version with working with ones hands is more descriptive than just needlework I went with a Norwegian theme.

Traditionally håndarbeid was mostly used to describe working with thread (knitting, crochet, sewing), but later the term started to be used with other things such as woodworking, jewellery making. painting and all other crafty ways one can use ones hands to create something.

I will speak about the things I do with my hands, which is mostly crochet, knitting, sewing, drawing, beading and perhaps the occasional painting all from A to Z.

Me buying yarn in Finland

Back to normal

Now that Easter is over I can tell you that I did finish my goals, and you might know how I like to make myself goals and some of the time actually finishing them. But I have gotten better at making goals that I can finish so that might be it. I finished my Florida shrug, did a bunch on my knitting adventure, was social, read four books and spent lots of time in the sofa with Mister M and the buns.

But look, it is finished. It weights 111 grams so I did get to use up some of my acrylics that was leftover from my pink granny square blanket.

Pattern here.

Today I also went to my LYS for their opening, the paper was there too. I got some balls of yarn on sale that I wanted to start a shawl with and I wanted to have one with changing colours and shockingly I didn't have any in my stash so it was good the store had some for sale.... (excuses, excuses, I would have found some way to justify any yarn I bought)

I love zombies, this was a picture from a friend of Mister M where we were social this easter you know but I forgot to show you then.

And another reason I sort of had trouble keeping with my one in two out yarn policy: My friend *Kio came by with some leftover yarn for me...  Over 350 grams and with the yarn I got from Mister M for our anniversary and the yarn I bought on sale for the kitties in a row blanket I have so much yarn I can't see that I can make twice as much as I've gotten in this year. Hehe. But I will still try.

Here is my ongoing Knitting Adventure. I L O V E the colour in this, and the price was awesome if you remember, 30 kr for two balls of 100 grams, they are on sale on Panruro now too, 50 kr for one ball of 100 grams of yarn, you can see why we couldn't pass the opportunity when it was presented?

 I still have plenty of yarn before I start the decrease and it is already longer than the orange one, so using a bigger needle really did do the trick, I can't wait to start the next one.

Bunnies are napping as usual.

*

And I have joined the A-Z challenge.

Happy Easter and all

Happy Easter, did the Easter-bunny visit you? 

We got our eggs early, and the Easter bunny left an egg here for my mum too. She even got some of those bunnies I made a few days ago and a book with crochet and knit patterns in Norwegian. Mister M got a Nemi magazine from the Easter-bunny as well as his egg with candy, I only got candy, but I have so much yarn so I am fine^^

 I tried taking pictures of the buns but they were fairly uninterested, but both buns chinned my fake plant so now it belongs to some buns, not me.

I have no idea who chinned it last to be honest, so I don't know who owns it.

We have these adorable bunny eggs, these are the humans and the buns are only borrowing them for props but they were more interested in the fake flower anyway.

We made turkey dinner with mushroom, potatoes and Brussel sprouts yesterday and it was delicious, I even got to use my napkins and Easter Bunny light, although we never lit it because our matches were no where to be found. Oh well.

The other day we were invited to a friends house and ate lamb and today we are going out to another friends house to have pork of some kind, I am looking forward to it. Bunnies get Basil and are thrilled about that too, I am happy they are still easily pleased.

My goal is to finish the Florida Shrug this Easter and I am almost there! Just a couple more repeats before the assembling and edge. I can do it!

I also started another scarf, this one in the same yarn we got on sale but on bigger needles, I think I used 5 last time and 7 now and it is flying of the needles. I think it might turn out longer, but we will see.

I love the colours on this, very emerald with some grey blue patches and some more blue and more green in-between, I think this colour would suit almost anyone, I wonder who I will give it too, or if I should just put it in the Christmas box and see...

Anyway Happy Easter!

I still have lots of Chocolate left!

Easter Crochet Patterns

I have been searching for Easter decorations that are not egg cozies (because we don't eat that many boiled eggs) or baskets in our house and I have had a hard time finding any.

 I did however find some gems I thought I would share with you (and me next year). 

Some patterns are just for fun, but some are useful and I did share a egg cozy or two too, because one is useful even if you only eat boiled egg once in Easter.

All patterns are free and the pictures are taken from the links.

Bunnybutt bySteenistugan

This pattern is really fun, it is in Swedish however, but I am sure with a little help from Google you could make this. I think I will make these, so many patterns so little time... 

(Just remember that bunnies don't have the pink on the bottom of their soles.)

Easter Bunny basket or doily by MammaNicole

Another favourite, I really need a bunny doily or two, maybe I should go buy some sweet dusty pink or light blue yarn for this, white is a classic but I would rather have them in colours, usually colours I don't have so I have to buy more stash;)
This pattern seems to just have a diagram.

The Green Dragonfly

 Bunnies are also very Easter-y and I love these little dudes, they seem easy and fun, since they don't look very natural you could go berserk with colours to make them really spring into spring-y-ness.

Crochet Egg Cozy Pattern by Kara

Here is the coolest egg cozy I saw, it looks really useful and decorative and fun but you better hurry up and eat your eggs or they will get cold with this particular pattern.

Easter Egg Coaster by Doni Speigle

I made these for my friend Evi for Christmas so I can recommend this pattern, it was easy and fun and I could use up some scraps. The white thread in-between is carried over so there is less yarn to sew in in the end which is always a good thing.

Amigurumi Hatching Easter Chicks by Toma Creations Blog

I remember in Kindergarten we made decorations like these with real egg shells and pom poms, mine is looking rather sorry now and I think it might be time for a crochet one, might last longer, but it needs shell on the top of the head as well, mine in kindergarten did.

EasterBunny Mug Cozy by Haak Maar Raak

If I didn't already have a yellow Easter bunny mug I would make this, although come to think of it, this could go as a everyday mug cozy too, I think I need this on my list after all.

Drops Chick bookmark

A bookmark, In Norway Easter is the season we eat eggs but also we read crime books, go cross country skiing in the mountains and have lots of oranges and chocolate so a bookmark is most useful.

Kvikk Lunsj blue by Herdagsmagi

This is the chocolate most Norwegians eat lots of in Easter, so I had to add a pattern of this hat, it is in Norwegian though but free, so just try and see if you can crochet it ^^

Henny Penny

My friend Tinkerbell and I had a teacher named Penny in high school and I remember we called her Henny Penny Filli Fenny.

I don't think she liked it much, but she never said anything.

This is useful, look, it is for bread and stuff, I eat bread more than I eat boiled eggs.

Drops Sunny Morning Doily

A doily is always useful, if I had proper yellow yarn I am sure I would make this, and a doily that is not so fragile looking were you don't use a tiny needle is more up my alley anyway. I love the look of the thin thread, I just don't have the patience or fingers for it.

Drops Sunny Side Up

Another useful kitchen item, this is not just for Easter, it is a fun pot holder, I do love fried eggs and I eat that a lot with bacon. Omnomnom.

Drops Kikiri-Key

 This little chick pretends he is all useful and all, but a Key fob just for Easter seems a bit excessive in my book, but you could always use him for something else, although nothing useful comes to mind. Mind you he could always just be decorative.

Chicken Vanes

 Another decorative chicken, but I am sure you could adapt this into another pot holder if you really want something useful.

Did you find anything you liked? Did your to-do list grow as much as mine did? Think you could finish all this easter?

The Wedding blanket squares four

Basket of Berries from Melinda Miller.

I have another block a week square from the wedding blanket to show you.

This square was easy and I loved the basket effect that the last few dark rows gave. The purple mesh made this square one of the faster ones, but the lighter blue granny square pattern helped. The berries (popcorns) in the middle make this square interesting and it is one of the times my popcorns really popped like they should!

I like the colours in this square and it didn't use up too much yarn either since it weighed 30 grams.

But I think my favourite part of this pattern was the weaving basket like pattern in the last few rounds. The effect was made with several backpost double crochet stitches and several regular DC stitches and the other way around the next round, very easy and a technique I am sure I will use later.

All in all a square I would like to make again, just not enough to make a blanket although I am not so sure there are any square patterns out there I would like to make that many times. I am too easily bored. hehe.

Easter and checking in

M and I had our six month anniversary last Saturday and spent the day shopping and later watching "Oh Brother, were art thou" on TV, I loved the movie BTW. And we ate cake, lots of cake, M surprised me with cake from our wedding from the freezer and I surprised him with cake I bought at the store. Haha. I got lots of yarn, 30 balls of wool which made me happy, and M got a note with the same amount on STEAM, so he can buy games which made him happy.

All the squares of my baby granny blanket is done and I am in the middle of crocheting them together which is quite tedious, but the edge is a carrot and I am edging towards it, edging is always so much fun!

 Maybe I want to do the heart edge again only this time with the scallop edging I envisioned on the Wedding Blanket....

The Florida Shrug is over halfway through, and I am having fun with this, and easy project while watching TV. Only problem is that the whole thing is covered with tiny little black hairs. #Troubleswithblackbunnies

And since it is Easter I have pulled out my new shiny Easter mug M gave me and am happily hooking some small Easter critters, I made these last year too, but I am definitely making a garland this time!

Bunnies Applique and Easter Egg Crochet

I love the bunny pattern, but both are easy and fun and with the right colours make spring sing.

This yarn is acrylics from Nille, but I don't think they have the same colours anymore, which is too bad because even though I am not a fan of acrylics I am a huge fan of the colours here.

Mini basket

I made these a few years back, but have since misplaced them so I made a few more using some scraps of yarn and on one I added a little scallop edge. The adorable little chicks inside I bought at the store earlier but I would like to make them myself, too bad I am not that good at amigurumi...

I also picked up a small cross stitch kit from Permin that my mother found in her chest just before Christmas and gifted to me. My hand are hating sewing at the moment, but the pattern is oh, so cute and you know how I love making things that are seasonal so I just had to sew some. But alas, you see all that yellow I did? I used the wrong colour, the colour I mistook for light yellow was just plain yellow and the light yellow is actually white! So now I have to frog half my work, which I hate.

Oh well, that will teach me (probably not since this is not the first time I did this---) to not double check all the colours before starting a kit.

Baby Crochet Patterns Bonanza

This year I wanted to get better at making clothes and so I thought, before I start on too many adult sized ones that take forever (like my crochet skirt), I think smaller is better. Easily finished, less expensive, I can use yarn I already have and later I hope to tackle some more clothes for me. 

(I am hoping my confidence and skill will soar with a little baby clothes making crochet practise)

But in the mean time, here are some baby patterns for crochet (crochet patterns are for some reason hard to come by so I made my top list) that I thought looked useful and cute.

If I make any of these I will tell you how I liked the patterns and if they were worth purchasing.

Now onto some Pants:

Heartthrob Pants by Drops Design

Pants from Drops, this pattern is free and since it is made in DC it will work up fast, those pants look very comfy and is good for both genders ( I think most anything could be worn by all genders, but the parents might have other ideas)  and you could even make it a bit long and just fold the legs up a bit for longer usage. I wish Drops made more crochet clothing in general.

ÆlleBællebukse- EenyMeenyShorts by Birgitte Haahr Hejlesen

This one is in Danish, which I am sure will be easy, it has some of those pesky popcorn stitches, but it is adorable. Since it cost a little I am thinking of waiting a little while to make this, but it is SO on my list, as I said, it looks adorable and very useful.

Kattegat Cardigan 

Same designer made these sweaters, and you get the vest too in the pattern, still at an affordable prize, unfortunately both are only in Danish, but that can't be too hard can it?

Pattern - Baby Shorts with suspenders by Mon Petit Violon

I saw something similar in a Simply Crochet magazine and I think I want to make either this or the magazine one. And you could probably add buttons between the legs for easier diaper changing.

This also costs some money but not that much.

Pattern on Revelry by Cathy Ren

If I ever have kids this is so something they will have to wear, this designer made lots of these in different colours, you can he hello Kitty, a bear, Mickey Mouse, a chick, a fox or Superman and they are really cheap.

Pattern by DIY by Ruta

Another easy Granny Type Baby thing. I think this cozy is adorable, and I have found variations of this with almost all animals, just search, or add a head from a different pattern. I want to make this one day, it has been on my list from when I started crocheting but now that people around me are actually starting to sprout I think it is time to actually start one. This pattern is free.

Pattern by Freddie Schuh

Bibs are essential with babies, and with the one I showed in the last post I found a couple more.

With this cute petal one your baby could be a flower, and it could also  double as a costume. This pattern is not free.

Pattern by Bernat design Studio

This bib might be a good stash-buster, just make it in stripes, I know I will, one colour and stripes of leftover yarn in between, then I can use up some of my smallest stash. That or you could always cross stitch something with the leftover yarn. This pattern is free.

Then on to the dresses! I think crochet lends it self very well to dresses, making it lacy and airy and fairy-like fits so well to small kids. (and me)

Angel Wings Pinaforte by Maxine Gonser

I have seen this dress made both open and closed at the back and it is my favourite, seems like it is not only my favourite, but over 2390 projects have been made on Ravelry.

I love those butterfly/angel wings arms and the fact that it seems to adjust to fit different sizes and I love the fact that this is free!

Eloise Baby Sweater by Tamara Kelly

This dress might be better for Winter babies, just make it is wool or alpaca, you make it a little longer and it is a dress, a little shorter and it is a jacket. Here is also a good chance to use up a little stash in those colourful stripes. This pattern is free and for sizes 0 to three years old!

Some Jackets, don't forget the one a little higher up by the Danish designer who also made the blue pants.

Baby Hexagon Jacket by Soledad Z

This jacket seems to consist of a couple of hexagons and then some assembling and tadah, you have a spiffy jacket. I think it is adorable, and suitable for all ages and genders, just make the hexagons bigger for a bigger version. Here I would recommend having a jacket the size you want this to be for comparison.

Just Peachy- Crochet Baby Jacket by Marianna Mel

Any child needs a vest in their closet. I think this would be very handy in wool so that it can be used for spring or fall or even winter with warmer  clothing underneath. I think vests are underrated anyway, I try to make M understand that vests are good to have but he still looks at me all clueless.

This pattern is free for sizes 0-3 months, but use a clothing as comparison and try to make it the same size, or you could use a bigger hook to make it bigger, the small size uses under 50 grams of yarn so you could always use up that leftover yarn from bigger projects.

I loaned this photo from CappelenDamm

I loaned this book from the library because it is impossible to buy since it is out of print,  I will look at the patterns and hopefully do a review of it later, I have had a peak at it and it seems like easy and fast projects.

You can't have a baby crochet pattern bonanza without a blanket. This is one of my all time favourites, but the Filet Bunny afghan, granny Ripple, Blanket of the hearts and the good old granny square are also good, fast and easy to make for any baby.

Star Blanket by Bernat Design Studio

 I have made several of these blankets in small sizes, more like lapghans and I love this pattern. It is free and fun and perfect for any child. (or me).

 I hope you got some inspiration and that you can make something for a little one with crochet and not just knitting because there are tons more knitting patterns but maybe like me you feel more comfortable with a hook than a needle?

(All pictures are from Ravelry unless otherwise stated and all links link to Ravelry)