Howling at the Moon

 For a while now I'm a soprano in a classic choir and in the last months we did a couple of recitals. Because of corona restrictions it wasn't always easy to sing, due to keeping distance, a reduced orchestra because just a certain amount of people was allowed, choir members that do not want to take any risks and postpone singing together until corona will be finally disappaered (if ever) et cetera, so every recital we could do under such circumstances was a real gift.  A couple of recitals were sung in churches and as time went on, it became colder, but because we are expected to wear a sort of festive clothes we are not supposed to cover in winter coats to keep warm of course. So I  crocheted this two meters long shawl, that I can wrap around me.  The original pattern was written for a cardigan by Lakeside Loops, which was not very difficult to alter to a shawl. I love how it turned out!  Pattern: Eva Crochet Cardigan  (free pattern) by Lakeside Loops Ya...

  This week I made and sent the Christmas cards. Not very complicated to make, because that will take too much time. I just made some simple drawings in thick blanco paper cards, punched holes in the paper with a needle and used yarn in different colors to connect the holes. I glued another card on the backside of the cards, to hide the knots and ends of the yarn. Simple, but I'm happy with the result.  ~*~ My Christmas Wreath was featured by Is This Mutton?

  Two years ago I did a workshop for making a wreath, together with a friend. This year we wanted to go again, but last week all workshops were canceled due to you would never guess it. So we decided to do our own workshop. Today we bought all we could possibly need and went to work.  I made pastries and good coffee, so we didn't have to miss  that either. All in all we had a great afternoon.  I'm very content with the result, a centerpiece and a wreath, both in natural colors. From the left overs I made another arrangement, for the kitchen.  ~*~ My Blue Marbled Baubles were featured by Pointsettia Drive  and Slices of Life ! The Advent Calendar that I made for my daughters was featured by My Big Fat Menopausal Life !

  Our tree will be dressed in blue this year. Blue and a bit of red, white and black. And because I always love to hang something in my tree that I made myself, I crocheted some baubles a couple of weeks ago. And this week I marbled some old white glass baubles with nail polish, which gave a great result. I found this idea here  (with instructions).  ~*~ My DIY Advent Calendar was featured by An Artful Mom ! 

S i nterklaastaart   Benodigdheden: * cakemix en de op de verpakking genoemde toe te voegen ingredienten, meestal boter en eieren * taaitaaipopjes *50 cc + 5 eetlepels slagroom *bakje mascarpone *speculaaskruiden *3 eetlepels suiker *rolfondant *reep chocola van 80 gram *chocoladeletter *strooigoed (pepernoten, taaitaaipopjes, letters, schuimpjes, marsepein, of wat je maar wil)   Bereid de cake zoals op de verpakking staat aangegeven. Maal de taaitaaipopjes grof en meng dit met het cakebeslag Bak zoals staat aangegeven op de cakemixverpakking Laat de taart helemaal afkoelen  Sla 50cc slagroom stijf en roer daar de mascarpone, drie eetleps suiker en twee eetlepels speculaaskruiden doorheen Snijd de taart in drie lagen en smeer daar de speculaascreme tussen. Smeer ook wat op de boven- en zijkanten van de taart. Zet je taart even in de koelkast. Rol de fondant uit in een lange, dunne strook; meet de hoogte van je taart en snijd de randen van de fondant af op die hoog...

 Yesterday was the fourth Sunday before Christmas, the Sunday when advent begins, so I hung up the Advent Calendar for my daughers (14 and 11 years old). I made one myself after being not very content with the one I bought last year. It was a calendar from a beauty label, but most products were alike, just different scents (as in having opened five different scented hand lotions in the end and four sorts of different smelling shampoos ). This year I bought brown paper bags, draw something that has to do with Christmas on it and filled them with all kinds of little presents. 

 There's another wave of delivering collaegues going on at my job, so I've been busy making some baby presents, beginning with this lovely little cat, named Satsuka.  Pattern: Satsuka Cat from Animal Friends from Pica Pau 2 by Yan Schenkel Yarn: various colors by Ricorumi ~*~ My Granny Christmas Baubles were featured by Create With Joy ,   Ginx Craft  and My Bijou Life !

  Stash Buster 17  This week I made more Christmas decorations and crocheted a couple of Christmas Baubles. You can't be early enough; before you know it Christmas is there. I already have a lot of blue and white decorations for the tree from last year  and want to complement this with handmade decorations  instead of buying new stuff again  For this pattern you don't need a lot of yarn, so I used left overs of other projects. Inside the balls are old Christmas baubles that I didn't use anymore. Plastic baubles are best to use, because after crocheting two halves you cover the baubles with them and close them by threading. Glass baubles are more breakable, so plastic is saver. Pattern: Christmas Granny Baubles by Annie Design Crochet (free pattern) Yarn: various colors of Capri by Katia ~*~ The Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Empanadas , that I made a couple of weeks ago, were featured this week by God's Growing Garden ! The little Christmas creatures that I showed...

 One of my favorite Etsy stores is Lalylala. I bought lots of patterns there and when a book came out, I bought that, too, of course. What I especially like are the Season series.  For a couple of years now I had the intention to make the Christmas creatures, but for some reason it never happened. Busy making other things or no time at all. But this year I purchased both Christmas pattern sets, hooked and hooked and hooked, and they are finished! And although it's a bit early, I show them anyway, no that there's still lots of time to make them yourself, in case you like them, too!     Patterns:  X-mas by Lalylala (candle, tree, angel) X-mas Vol 2 by Lalylala (pointsettia, christmas elf, bauble) Yarn: various colors by Katia Capri and Scheepjes Catona ~*~ My Sea Shell Blanket was featured by Creative Jewish Mom !

  More than a year ago I started crocheting this blanket and finally it's finished. Very happy, considering I used just one third of the time for crocheting and the rest of the time for untangling yarn.  The blanket is made of three different skeins of Scheepjes Whirl. I made lots of different projects inbetween to keep my spirit high, but not that it's finished I really love the result. And..., bought new Whirls for another project.    Pattern: Sea Shell Blanket by Lisa Kuijs on Ravelry (free pattern) Yarn: Scheepjes Whirl Liquorice Yum Yum, Indigo Plane and Blueberry Bam Bam ~*~ My Crocheted Herringbone Pumpkin Pillow was featured by The Answer is Chocolate !

A while ago, a the beginning of Fall, I saw some really, really great pillows in the form of a pumpkin, on the internet. The shop that sold them didn't deliver to the country I live in, though, so I went searching for other shops selling similar pillows. In the end I didn't find  pumpkin pillows exactly to my liking, but what I did find was a beautiful crochet pattern for pumpkin pillows on Etsy. So that's what I bought.  I crocheted three balls of yarn together for a thick thread.  Pattern: Cozy Herrington Pumpkin Pillow by My Dear Knot Yarn: Royal by Zeeman ~*~ My Waist Coat Stitch Plant Pot is featured by Creative Jewish Mom  and Ginx Craft !

  Stash Buster 17  Last week I wrote a post about the lamp shades I made for the dining room. I had some yarn left and used it to make this plant pot by covering a vegetable jar with the waist coat stitch.   Pattern: waist coat stitch Yarn: Barbante ~*~ My raspberry colored pumpkin was featured by Creative Jewish Mom and Pointsettia Drive !

  Stash Buster 16 From another project I had some left over raspberry colored yarn. I used it to make this pumpkin with, with colors great with the Fall Bouquet in the living room.      ~*~ My post about the trip I made to Texel, The Netherlands , with my daughter, was featured by The Cottage Market !  My crocheted Lamp Shades were featured by Creative Jewish Mom , Pieced Pastimes ,  Oombawka Design  and The Answer is Chocolate !      

 Now that it's Fall again and I'm inside the house more often, I like to try out new recipes and experimenting with cooking and baking again. This week I made empanadas filled with sweet potatoes, pumpkin, pecans and cajun seasoning. It was a try out, but is definitely a keeper!  You will not use all of the mashed pumpkin and potato mix. With what is left you can make a delicious soup by adding vegetable broth.     What you need 10 slices of pastry dough 1 sweet potatoe 1 pumpkin 1 garlic clove 1 shallot 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning mix handful of pecans, chopped   What you do Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius Cut potato, pumpkin, garlic and shallot into pieces and spread over a baking plate Sprinkle olive oil over it Roast for half an hour (don't turn off the oven after roasting) Mash the pumpkin and potatoe Add seasoning mix Put a tablespoon of the mix on the pastry dough, add some pecans and fold over Press the edges with a fork to cl...