Niende Desember

Today's tea was delicious, black tea with cinnamon, ginger,cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, orange peel, vanilla and apple. I like vanilla.

I didn't really sleep much last night, so today I have basically sat on the sofa all day trying not to fall asleep, I think I need to capitulate soon XD

But I was a bit productive!

I finished the last of the hats, fixed the threads after i took the picture of course and forgot to take a proper photo. But you can really see the cat ears in this one, here is the pattern if anyone wants to give it a go. This is the third hat I make out of this pattern, really easy, looks good and takes about an evening, at least when you have co-operating fingers.

Speaking of co-operating fingers, on Monday I did water gymnastics, and last time I was sore for a week, this time, nothing. Maybe because there was a different program or I didn't give it my all. It was hard though.

 I made ten hats this year, four crocheted and six knitted.

Also I can see I am getting better, yay me.

And I have another semi-finish! One half of a pair of mitts, or wrist warmers, this time I tried to make a half thumb. I got the pattern from somewhere, if I find it I will share it, but I think it is on the iPad and I am on the computer... But I have heftily modified it, but honestly I think it looks really good. Making the body took forever though, so I hope I have time to make another, it is not really good etiquette to give away half a present is it? Unless the recipient only needs one mitt?

I have two more pairs of wrist warmers to go, although keeping with tradition I could finish the one for my cousin next year, since he is getting his hat from last year this year?

And I must confess making proper knitted mittens is alluring, but I must be strong, knitting still takes me forever and I won't have time to make the rest if I start any knitting gifts (other than the last knitted wash cloth that is). Although apparently when you master socks, mittens are pretty much the same, so next year, next year I will make socks and mittens!

Late February Accessories

I am finally all better from having a cold for a couple of weeks. So I thought I should blog a little again. When I have a cold my head feels like it is full of cotton and I have a hard time thinking and with a runny nose and clogged sinuses things have hardly moved at all these past few weeks. Boyfriend was only sick for a week, lucky him.

Anyway, I started another wrist warmer from Simply Crochet number 11.

This is the fourth set I am making, and this one I am making just to have a present if I am in dire need one day, plus I loved the pattern, it is really fun.

I am practising making hats as well before I tackle the hat for my cousin and his big head, my head is child sized so no help there. Which is why I am buying yarn and making a hat for boyfriend. Remember the bow I showed you last? I thought it looked good on this hat. I used some wool I had lying around on a 6 hook. The pattern I loosely used was this. Only I increased the size to fit me. I wonder if I am going to add whiskers and eyes. I might. But not today.

This is wrist warmers number 3. Made for me, here I used the same number of starting chains as the pattern suggested, in number 2 and 4 I have added ten chains if memory serves me right....

Simply Crochet magazines is a magazine I highly recommend crocheters, they make lots of modern and stylish clothing that even I can make. I made the first in two weeks and the second in one day so you can say I am back to feeling better.

Before Christmas I splurged on this yarn, it is black with reflector yarn so that the wearer is visible for traffic both from behind and the front. I used the same pattern as the other hat, only this hat is not finished yet because I ran out of yarn. Gluhwurmchen, from Rico, but my mother has kindly said she would check her local yarn shop to see if they have more in stock. (I have no idea how to make the appropriate dots over the letters, sorry.)

Sorry about all the bad pictures, there is not that much light these days and my phone is bad at taking pictures, but I thought better bad pictures in the blog than no blog post right?

Anyway I am feeling better now, so hopefully I can finish that table cloth within February as was my goal. Even if I am feeling a bit fed up with those snowflakes at the moment... The end is in sight so I better just chug along, make a couple each day before I start one of my more interesting and new projects? Might be a good plan.

Finishing touches and Henry revisited

My finishes just keep coming. And I haven't started anything new either! Just doing my wips like a good girl.

Let me show you:

 So I finished this card, and I picked up again another card that I never showed you, but I will after it is finished:)

I really like this card, and I know just the person to give it to too. Someone who loves cats. Which is not a spoiler because all my friends love cats and boyfriends family does too.

Here in the basement Mimle is still having fun with her water and flavoring it…  This time it was Oxbows Botanical Hay flavor, and it was really delicious says bunny.

I just vacuumed so I hope it will stay hayless through the day. But I would not put any money on that;)

I also picked up Henry again. That Tudor rose which has a mistake is still bugging me, so I decided to do what I did on the Somebunny rocking horse, just continue somewhere else where there were no mistakes and leave the mistake for another day when I love the piece more because of it's progression.

Henry's cape is almost done now. Then only three more wives to go and a border. Yay. I can do it, I can have it finished this year! 

(please don't make me remember I said that when I fail and panic start some Christmas gifts;) )

 Now, I wonder where I placed all those beads, they were not with the floss:S I am fairly certain that they are in a rabbit container on the bookcase, I am sure I haven't packed them up yet at least so they should still be in the apartment somewhere….

First Advent Ornament

Today I had my mother over for a belated birthday get-together, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of her present that I made, but I will next time I see her, she really loved her presents and that made me happy.

I was thinking about waiting to show you some ornaments until ornament Onsdag, but then I realized that most of the things I made lately were ornamented gifts, so here is a cat for someone who is a cat person. ^^

And then there is an advent present for my boyfriend. He and his sister used to have a bird each that they hung on the tree but they are looking a bit battered nowadays so I made boyfriend one that would not brake if it fell off the tree;)

And what post would be complete without a bunny pic? Bunny is tired. she has an advent calendar too, but she gets presents everyday. Now who wouldn't get tired of opening gifts everyday?

A hole in the Hol and a workshop

My friend joined me and we drank some Christmas Fizz and then we made a cat each. I have the grey one and she the white. I think they turned out lovely once we found the strength to abandon the instructions, because face it, they were making us more confused.

Now to decide who gets my lovely cat…. I have already started another, as there were 13 in the kit.

Then later the same day bunny helped boyfriend to assemble a Hol from IKEA. And I have no idea how she knew, but she acted like it belonged to her before we even put her stash in. She now has a small house were we are giving out hay. Hopefully she will keep the hay inside the box and not drag it everywhere. Because as you all know hay must be eaten either straight from the bag or from the floor, but if it stays on the floor for too long, it turns inedible soon. But somehow after weeks of being on the floor behind something it turns edible again if there is enough dust in it…. Bunnies.

And here she is hopping out of her table house. Boyfriend's father made the hole for us.

Today was Wisp-day

And I did do some Wisp-ing.

This little guy came out of hiding and I did some white on his dress. I am liking this project and I think it will be fun to do the couching on it. Learning a new skill makes me happy. I am hoping to finish this in time for Christmas. And even when he is just occasionally outside I think it is do-able. See, I can make long term goals too.

 Fred! I love Fred. I worked on him yesterday (after I finished the entire page on Henry that I said was my goal, yay, a goal achieved. ) and a bit today. ( Yes, I know today was Wisp-Sunday, but I am allowed to deviate a little from my plan right? ) I have done all the greens and reds on the right side of the picture. :) But I just had a realization, which is, they have been a bit skimpy with the fabric. There is at the lowest 20 holes from the end of the picture and to the end of the aida. Not that much to go on:(  I am pretty sure it is not the wrong way or that I have miscalculated when gridding him. Because every which way I turn him, there is not much to go on... I know that when finished I can sew on more fabric for when I frame him, but I just felt really miffed when I saw how little leniency I had in aligning him perfectly in the middle. Oh, well, I am sure he will look good finished anyway. Even if I have misaligned him a little bit. It is just one of those little things that bug me.

I promise, I know what day it is!

I do. Even If I don't have any WiSPiness to show you lot.

I do on the other hand have a lot of Fred, Henry and Bunny x2 to show for it.

 Look, another book down, a start on the next one. And look, I have started on the cat. :) I am still in love with this piece, but it needs daylight. And I am still not happy with the stiffness of the aida. And another thing, I don't know who the manufacturer of the floss is, but it is fraying alot... A lot like the free floss you get in the magazines. Maybe I have my threads too long, but I like them that way, and usually I don't get into trouble with them. So I will not change my ways.

I am dreading all the finishing touches on this one, because there is a lot of metallics, but other than that I think this will be a fairly easy project... Especially all the big blobs of colour already in a row;)

Yesterday I finished all the red on Henry's arm. And soon I think the brown will be done too. My mum is visiting tomorrow, so I doubt it will be finished then. But I hope to be soon. Almost halfway!

-

I know it is WiSP Sunday, and I promise, I have done some on one of them, but it is on secret project number 2, so sadly I can't show you, but I can show you my travel project instead. I don't travel much these days, but I will be traveling a little tomorrow, so I have made a start on this so it will be easier on the bus tomorrow;)

A Margareth Sherry design, and of course, a bunny. For me. Yes, I am making a bunny birthday card for myself, because I usually don't get any bunny cards. (sometimes I get one from my friends :) )

I was contemplating joining in a birthday exchange, but I don't want to have too much on my plate, need to finish my course first...

 Bunny has a new hobby. Jumping up on this crate. We keep her hay in one of them and the bedding in the one she is sitting on. Maybe she could smell it? But she likes being on top of things to look around. (The higher the better, she says, sometimes I think she was a cat and not a bunny)

 I can honestly say that she seems completely healed when she jumps that high. Look at her smug little face. (and please ignore the clutter).

And another sign that she is feeling fine. The bunny flop. :) We have a small inexpensive IKEA rug on the floor under the desk between boyfriend and me where bunny loves to nap when we are busy.

You can even see how much she has healed in the fur growing back on her tummy if you look closely.

Oh, yeah, and I have 13 followers now, yay, I am hoping to have a giveaway when I reach another milestone. Either 200 blogposts or 20 followers, whichever happens first. ;)

Or if a post gets 100 views a day;)
My last entry received 92 I think, so almost there;)

Soon It will be October

At the moment I am doing a  intensive course on digital archives, which means that I don't have that much time to play around in Mac-stitch. Still, I will make sure to meet my deadline and faithfully put up charts on Bundays. So if you want to make a small cross stitch before Halloween, here is your chance. I am going to make a few charts until  Halloween dawns upon us. ^^

Oh, and I promised some people I met this weekend to make sheep, stay tuned.

For øyeblikket går jeg på intensiv-kurs i digitalt arkiv, så det betyr at jeg ikke har så god tid til å leke  rundt på Mac-Stitch. Men, jeg skal passe på å rekke fristen min og hver søndag trofast legge ut en oppskrift på korssting. Hvis du har lyst til å lage et lite Halloween broderi, så har du sjansen nå. Fram til Halloween gryr skal jeg lage og legge ut noen Halloween-oppskrifter. 

Åja, og jeg har lovt noen mennesker jeg møtte denne helgen å lage noen sauer, følg med.

Here is bunny in her digging box, looking for some treats buried deep beneath the paper. 

Come September, and this is all I have to show

 So this is how big bunny has gotten. 1,5 kilos of love:) Last sunday stupid bunny ate a part of a shoe. And it did not come out. Bunny ate same amount of hay I think as usual, but less came out of her. She was also sleeping a lot more than usual (which could be the weather).Lying in her toilet (which she never does) and letting her eyes fall back, which made her look dead. I really hate when buns do that. It was a lot of running to check on bunny for me, and she was not pleased.  We started her on Critical Care and called the vet. We got an appointment and the nice doctor felt her tummy and decided everything looked good. Thank heavens. He even showed us how to look for gas and a tummy not in good shape. Love that vet. He said that rabbit should eat Critical Care for a few more days. And here we are a few days later with a happy bun who poops like crazy and craves attention ;) I think she is safe now. But she does know how to scare us. Mind you the bite she took of the shoe was microscopical. Stupid bunny.

 On another note, we have been cuddling uncle's cats and kitten. They are so sweet. My man really looked like he was on the verge of kittynapping. But since we live in a household limited to one pet, he went home emptyhanded. Except for me;)

 Oh, yeah, and I started knitting. (I am making a big secret project) But I did finish this little thing. :) Since blankets are a pain and I never can stick to them long enough I made another children's blanket. But hey, I am now a really racer-person on knitting hearts. I made a little border out of crochet because I ran out of funky looking yarn. No matter, I am sure babies like forrest green too;)

In the background you can see my little purchase, from IKEA, a small ironing board. Small enough that you can just plunk it on the kitchen table. For us people with limited space it is just the thing! And it only cost like 39; kr. Which is practically nothing.

And that is all. But it is something I think. I have decided I will not tell you about my failed attempt on cross stitching on linen. Three times I had to unpick it! So yeah, that is mostly what I have been doing this summer, unpicking and secret projects.

I like cats too

Cutie Pie.

I am getting more and more sure that my arms really can't crochet as much as I want to. My arm hurts too much.

But then I get to sew more:)

Here is the pair, and just enough yarn to make both. I like the combo. I used Puppets Lyric yarn. And I hope it will still match the recipients kitchen (she redecorated).

This was initially a Christmas present, but I temporarily lost it, and when it was found I did not have time to finish the last few rounds on it. Then I decided that since I was late anyway I would make the square one also.

What do you think?

Bookmark Neko-chan

Finally this bookmark is done, I started this summer, but I never really got the feel of it. My first try of perforated plastic canvas and even though it was easy I could not sew my usual way by dipping my needle under the fabric and trailing to the next cross stitch. Also only three colours are a little boring. I made another tassel, yoohoo.

Now if only I could find the perfect book this would be a lovely gift.

And for everyone, I do think that plastic canvas is ideal for making bookmarks.

The book in my photo is made by Sano Youko and is called 100 man kai ikita neko.

The cat that lived a million times and is a famous children's book in Japan.

Monkey dance

Yesterday I made this. I did make some alterations.

Like the border.

Can anyone guess what she is?

I am also making a brown monkey from the same designer. I think her name was Maria. Here is the link to her ravelry site. And, can anyone guess who will get the little monkey?

Igår lagde jeg denne. Den er litt forandret fra orginalen. Som borden rundt.

Kan noen gjette hva hun er?

Jeg lager også en brun ape fra samme designeren. Jeg tror hun heter Maria. Her er en link til ravelry-siden hennes.

Bildet kommer når apekatten er ferdig. Gjett hvem som skal få apekatten?

Monkey dance Nippon Yuke Yuke.

This picture was almost impossible to take, but it is possible to view the monkey.

And yes, this song has been on my mind the entire time I made the monkey-thing.

Once, I made these cards, then I forgot

I have some best-friends, as most fortunate people have. And here are some of the cards I made to some (well actually two) of them.

All my friends love cats, so I made one cat. Because I however am more of a rabbit person. This is Card number one. Remember the Cat-pillow I made? I used the scrap-floss and made a Margaret Sherry cat in a teacup.

And since I have a very nice and craftsy aunt, I am the proud owner of a thing that cuts out shapes of paper. And woe and behold, the kit contained one that made cats, how fortunate.

Another friend another card^^ This time, a cupcake card. She likes to bake. ^^ Not that much to say, except cards are a great way to use up scraps. And it looks so good too.

The chart is from a cross-stitch-a-day-calender.

Oh, and my friend likes purple.

Eeyore, all un-stained and clean. Thank you.

And dear family, today I can't be bothered to write this in norwegian. You can surely understand this English? Good night.

Cats in a pot

Look what I made! Is done :) Potholder for friend. And it is no longer a Christmas present, but a friendship-present. Because I love my friends. Look at the fat cat^^ He looks like a little pig.

So a project I have is to make five pairs of these potholder duos. For my best friends. Some will get granny squares, but I am hoping to make a couple a little more challenging, like maybe some ripples? This cotton yarn is really difficult because the strands separate so the weaving in of the loose ends are killing my arms. But I manage. A little at a time is my motto. One end at a time;) The yellow cat needs a face and ears, but what do you think about its little bow? Should it be a ear-bow like little miss kitty-chan or a neck bow?