Howling at the Moon

 How was your Christmas? Mine was great, although different than planned. We had invited my husband's parents and my own parents, but since we are in lockdown again (The Netherlands) we had to divide them over two days. Two days in the kitchen for cooking and baking, but never mind: I love cooking and baking!  We also divided the presents over two days, to the delight of my daughters. I love to make at least one of the presents for my daughters myself. For my youngest (10 years old) I made Pony Sky , that I showed you some weeks ago. For my oldest I made this cushion in herringbone stitch. In the summer I made this bag in herringbone stitch and it's my favorite crochet stitch ever since. I used bulky yarn for this cushion and I love the result.  Yarn: Super Bulky by HEMA Pattern: Herringbone Stitch , tutorial at Lakeside Loops by Kimberley ~*~ My Canal Houses Cushions were featured by Pieced Pastimes , Pattern Paradise , Oombawka Design and Life Beyond The Kitchen ! ...

     Now that boxes are being delivered by the dozens these days, I thought I could make as well something fun out of them. After some drawing and painting and some cutting and gluing I was finished.    I used a small, flat box  for this project, that I turned on its side.  Cut loose all adhesive tape, so the box can be layed out flat. The drawing will be on what initially was the inside of the box (because the outside of  boxes has lettering on it most of the time and you want your houses to be brown).  Search Google for lots of canal house ideas and draw a couple of the most beautiful with a white board marker on what you want to be the front of your box(or draw with a pencil, so you can still correct, and then track with a white marker) Cut out the facades and windows with a little knife (I use blade 11 for all paper cutting projects).  Cut off the sides and back of the box lower than the front, so they're out of sight behind the cana...

 Of all the things I made this year, Crocheted Scrunchie s were the biggest hit. My daughter wears them all the time, in her hair and/or on her arm, so I thought Christmas Scrunchies would be nice, too.  I'm happy to say my duaghter thinks this Christmas variety 'is just as great as the regular, no mom, even better'!  My daughter is thirteen now, so I'm wondering if it will last very much longer, that enthusiasm over mom made things, but I hope it does, because I really enjoy making things for my daughters.   How I made them: Round 1: 40 dc around a regular hair elastic, close with a slip stitch in the first sc (40) Change color Round 2: chain 2 (counts as the first dc), 2 dc in the same stitch, 3 dc in every sc of the previous round, close with a slip stitch in the chain stitch (120) Change color Round 3: chain 2 (counts as the first dc), 1 dc in the same stitch, 2 dc in every dc of the previous round,close with a slip stitch in the chain stitch (240) Chang...

  For inspiration in yarn as well as patterns I follow Scheepjes on Instagram, among others of course. This pattern for Canal Houses came along months ago and because I've lived in a canal house like this in Amsterdam for many years,  I wanted to make these cushions ever since.  I started a couple of times with this tapestry project, but for some reason I just hadn't the patience to get the hang of it, until now. I found some Delfts Blue tiles in a box that we still hadn't unpacked after moving last year. I inherited them from my grandmother and thought they would combine perfectly with a dark blue and an ice blue cushion with a canal houses pattern. Inspiration sometimes comes when you expect it least. After seeing the tiles the cushions were finished in no time.      Pattern: Canal Houses by Esme Crick for Scheepjes Yarn: Catona by Scheepjes     ~*~     My Personalized Christmas Ornaments were featured by Keeping It Real ,  Love...

  As you may (or may not) remember we got a little kitten a couple of months ago, named James. He grows very fast, so he isn't that little anymore, but playful the more. Out of precaution I thought it  better not to have a normal tree this year, because from experience I know temptation is just too much for a kitten. It's starts with smashing ball out of the tree and before you know it he will end up in the top of the tree. Worst case scenario: a tree on its side and broken glass ornaments all over the place.  In the other rooms of the house we have small Christmas trees in heavy pots, that can't fall over, but in the living room I wanted a large tree. So I had to come up with an alternative.  From a couple of wooden slats I made a Christmas Tree shaped frame and attached Christmas branches to it with binding wire. I hung the frame on the wall, a bit higher than a normal tree's branches will be. The branches on the frame I decorated with lights and ornaments. The re...

 This year the grandparents from both sides will come over to celebrate Christmas at our house. As infection rates make it possible, that is.  I find it more difficult each year to think up presents, especially for the grandfathers. Of course there are things they like, but if I don't want to come up with the same presents year in, year out, I have to search longer and longer every year to come up with something original. This year a colleague of mine had a great idea: personalized Christmas ornaments. I don't know about your parents, your mother especially, but mine loves everything grandchild related. So balls with the names of all grandchildren on it, seems like a great idea.   I found out secretly which color the Christmas decorations of the grandmothers have, bought glass balls and a paint marker and searched online for a nice font. And this is the result:     

 For my little nephew I made this cute reindeer as a Christmas present. I love the little sweater with the large turtleneck!     Pattern: Mathilda Reindeer by Wolltastisch Handmade Yarn: various colors by Katia   ~*~   The chenille Pony that I made as a Christmas present for my little horse girl was featured by Creative Jewish Mom , A Pinch of Joy , On Pointsettia Drive , Artsy Fartsy Mama , Simple Homestead and Scrapality !     The Meu Mundo Mandala that I made a couple of weeks ago was featured this week by Pattern Paradise !  

 Since about two months we have a little Horse Girl in the house. After my daughter visited a riding school with her friend a couple of times , we had to endure whining about riding lessons every day, so after a couple of weeks we surrendered: we went with her to the riding school to take a look.  Long story short: she has riding lessons every week now and we can see horse riding makes her very happy. But me, it makes me very nervous. In my work (I'm a scrub and circulating nurse) I never see the best side of horses. Of course I don't want to make my own fear interfere with her happiness, so I let her be the horse girl she wants to be anyway, so for Christmas it's all horse related presents under the tree.  I love to make at least one of the presents myself, and this time it had to be a horse. Of course. I hope she'll like it.          Pattern: Pony Sky by Leami Yarn: Chenille by Lammy Yarn   ~*~   Anderson Seal was featured by My Bij...

 A couple of weeks ago I showed you an oversized cropped sweater that I made for my daughter. She was so happy with it, that she asked me to make another one. This one is in light brown.        Pattern: I made this pattern up myself.  For instructions see the first cropped sweater I made HERE  Yarn: Royal by Zeeman ~*~ Anderson Seal was featured by Annemaries Haakblog , Creative Jewish Mom and Doodle Buddies this week!  

 What's your favorite drink? Mine is coffee. Definitely coffee. Latte I love the most. The first one in the morning and the one after dinner are the best.  My recipe for the best latte:  * put one tablespoon of espresso powder in a mug * pour hot milk over it to the brim * sprinkle some cocoa or cinnamon over it Feels like a hug in a mug So that's what I wrote on this mug, with golden letters: Coffee = a Hug in a Mug. With a little bottle of Monin Hazelnut Syrup and a jar of espresso powder wrapped up in transparent foil and decorated with some shiny curls, I think this is a perfect gift for X-mas.    

 Here's another one from Yan Schenkel's book Friends of Pica Pau II, named Anderson Seal. Lovely patterns that are very suitable as presents for babies or toddlers. This one I made for a collaegue, not so long ago.   Pattern: Anderson Seal from Friends of Pica Pau by Yan Schenkel Yarn: various colors by Panduro Yarn    ~*~   The Meu Mundo Mandala was featured by Creative Jewish Mom and My Bijou Life !    

 Some months ago I made a brown and beige mandala with a pattern of Meu Mundo Craft. The pattern was gorgeous, the yarn too, but somehow the combination of the two didn't turn out as expected. The colors didn't really match with my living room, although I only use natural materials in my whole house. After giving it some thought I decided to give the mandala away to someone who really liked it, because making it took too much time and effort to put it in the attic. Every now and then I thought about making a new one, but I don't really like to make the same thing twice. Especially not when time between both projects is short. But last week I bought a Monstera for my all white bedroom and thought something white on the wall would make it even better. Suddenly the mandala popped up in my mind, an all white one for my bedroom instead of one for the living room. Great idea, that gave me the inspiration to finish it in just one week. So it already hangs.     From another angle...

Yesterday my daughter showed me something she said she really needed to eat for breakfast the rest of her life (my daughter is a teen). I had to look at twenty or more You Tube videos, so I really understood what  she meant, but honestly, after seeing just one she had me convinced. It has fruit and it has dairy, there aren't many breakfasts that are much healthier than this. Today we made our first smoothie bowl for breakfast (but you can eat this any time of day).     What you need frozen fruit (I used a banana, blueberries and strawberries) milk (I used soya) decoration (fruit, chocolate chips. coconut chips, oatmeal, whatever you like)   What to do Fill the blender jar with the frozen fruits of your choice Add milk until one third of the jar is filled (it's important to put in the fruit before the milk; fill the jar one third with milk first and your smoothie will be way to liquid) Blend until the part above the knives is smooth, take of the jar and push the fruit...

  In my Instagram feed I see a lot of amigurumi crocheted in chenille yarn lately, which makes the creatures look like they're made of velvet. I wanted to try it for a while and now finally had the time, so I made this little fox.  Yarn: Chenille by Lammy Yarns Pattern: Crochet Fox Amigurumi by Julia Deinaga (I used other colors and crocheted nose and eyes instead of using safety eyes)    ~*~   My Stroopwafel Latte Macchiato was featured by Scrapality , Oombawka Design , My Girlish Whims ,  On Pointsetta Drive ,  Apron Strings and Other Things , Pieced Pastimes and Mommepreneur !    The Oversized Cropped Sweate r that I made for my daughter was featured by My Bijou Life !