Howling at the Moon

From the book Animal Friends of Pica Pau 2 I made the elephant this week. The original wears trousers and a hat, but I gave Luisa a skirt and a hair flower. I made her for a four year old who loves elephants, so I hope she will live happily ever after with Luisa! Pattern: Luisa Elephant from  Animal Friends of Pica Pau 2 by Yan Schenkel Yarn: various colors by Katia   ~*~   The Esma Escape Sweater that I showed you last week, was featured by Annemaries Haakblog !         

 It's this time of year again: my favorite season has begun! Shorter days, colder outside, great light, beautiful colors. Time to get the 'speculaaskruiden' out!  Speculaas is a Dutch delicacy with lots of spices. It's especially made in Fall and Winter.      What you need 300 grams of flour 150 grams of brown sugar 175 grams of butter 4 tablespoons speculaaskruiden (see further how to make your own) bit of salt 2 tablespoons ice cold water   What to do Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius Mix all ingredients until you have a ball of dough Line a baking pan with baking paper Press the dough flat to about 1cm thckness Bake for 30 minutes Cut into squares immediately after taking the speculaas out of the oven, because otherwise it will break while cutting Let cool down  Enjoy! For 'speculaaskruiden' mix together: 8 teaspoons cinnamon (grinded) 2 teaspoons cloves (grinded) 2 teaspoons nutmeg (grinded) 1 teaspoon coriander seed (grinded) 1 teaspoon aniseed ...

My favorite summer drink this last three years is Ginger Beer. I just love this hot feeling when it glides down your throat and of course the taste is also great. Bonus: ginger is very healthy! There's only one thing on the downside and that's the amount of sugar added in the store bought version of it. So this week I tried to make my own and it turns out even better than I expected! What you need 100 grams fresh ginger 1 lemon 75 grams cane sugar 10 cloves 500cc lukewarm water 1 liter soda water 1,5 liter clean (swing-top) bottle  small funnel What to do Grind ginger in a food processor.  Squeeze lemon Put all ingredients together in a bowl and let ferment in the fridge for two days Sieve water above another bowl, pour the water in the bottle with help from the funnel and add the soda water That's it!       ~*~   The Hydrangea Wreath that I made last week of plants from my own garden, was featured by French Etherea l, The Artful Mom , The Cottage Market ...

 One of my best discoveries this year when it comes to crochet patterns is Lakeside Loops . I like the really original ideas of the designer. After making the Neo Herringbone Bag (free pattern), which I carry around almost every day, I started almost immediately with the Esma Escape Cardigan (free pattern).  Instead of making a cardigan I altered the pattern to a sweater. Therefore I made only the back side of the pattern, but did this times two. Then I attached shoulders and sides to each other, to form arm holes and neck. After that I crocheted rib trims at the bottom, neck and sleeves. In the bottom rim I decreased in the first row by crocheting each second and third stitch together. The sweater is mega wide and that was exactly what I wanted.         It took me weeks to finish the sweater, but I really love the result. I started over at least 25 times, and that's not an  exaggeration at all. The counting of the pattern wasn't difficult, but ...

  In the last months I saw him on social media regularly: the Plague Doctor, often accompanied by the words 'Wash Your Hands'. I doubt that plague doctors ever said that, because in their time running water wasn't available for everyone. Besides: people didn't know about bacteria and viruses back in the days, so washing your hands wasn't common use.  People knew you could get sick by having contact with another sick person, though. The plague doctor wore a leather gown, a mask with glass sight holes and a beak that was stuffed with flowers and herbs to hide the stench of reeking wounds, all to protect him from contamination by sick people.The long stick was for poking people to see if they had the plague and if they were still alive. In a way his gear looks like what we are still wearing nowadays when we have contact with people that are infected by dangerous contagious diseases. In my hospital we wear protecting gowns, special masks and goggles and glo...

 Last week Heidi from My Sweet Cottage shared her handmade wreath here . The pictures of the wreath came with a tutorial and to my delight I found out I had the necessities in my own garden (grape branches and hydrangea). I cut the branches the same day, formed a wreath, bound the branches with thread to keep them in the shape I wanted and hung it to dry for a couple of days. Today I cut hydrangea flowers from different bushes and inserted them between the branches.After that I bound everything together with binding wire. That was all it took. I really like the result.       And take a look at our new little cat friend James. Only nine weeks old.       Tutorial: you can find instructions at My Sweet Cottage Supplies: Grape Branches and Hydrangea Flowers    ~*~   The Naked Cake with Summerfruit was featured by Scrapality !   

Last week I went to see my favorite colleague, who just delivered her second child. She already has a little daughter, about four years old, and when I visited my colleague to admire her baby, I also brought something that I made for her four year old. I'm a big fan of the Pica Pau book by Yan Schenkel and crocheted a couple of creatures from it. Especially the alpaca I made more than once  for different people (I all gave them  their own name: Albertina,  Alicia , Alison) . But now she has a new book, just as great as the first book, full with lovely patterns of more little creatures. For the daughter of my collaegue I made Nina Tiger.   Pattern: Nina Tiger from Animal Friends of Pica Pau 2 by Yan Schenkel Yarn: various colors by Katia    ~*~ The Naked Cake (click for instructions how to make one, too) that I nade in exchange for a little tomcat was featured by Creative Jewish Mom , Life and Linda ,  Sum of Their Stories , On Pointsettia...