Howling at the Moon

 At various places in Blog World I saw this really great idea to fill an etag ère with various Valentines themed things. I really loved it and thought about making a similar piece for Easter. It's so much more subtle than the decorated tree that I had last year, whose branches filled half of the table. Every time we ate at the table at least one of us got caught behind the branches. Also our cat loved, no, réally loved the swinging eggs, and loved them even more when they fell on the floor after giving them a firm whack.  I bought some new things for Easter and combined it with the things I already had. The etag ère is not full yet, but I think how closer we come to Easter, how more it will be filled with things I find along the way. ~*~ My Porridge with Apple, Cinnamon and Pecans was featured by Zucchini Sister s,  Oombawka Design and All Things Kitchen !     

 As told last week I have a lot of pregnant women in my circle, so I'm busy making baby presents. Last week I made a swan for a baby girl, this week I made a fox for a baby boy. Well, actually it's a maned wolf, according to the crochet book the pattern's from, and although I'm a big fan of maned wolves myself (of any wolf, for that matter), I'm pretty sure that the mother to be never heard of a maned wolf, so naming it a fox makes things much easier in this case, I think.   Pattern: Thomas Aguara Guazu from    Animal Friends of Pica Pau 2 by Yanina Schenkel Yarn: Various colors by Panduro ~*~ Victoria the Swan was featured by Creative Jewish Mom , Our Three Peas and French Ethereal !  

  What do you miss the most, now that we're in the middle of a pandemic and in most countries lots of restrictions are applied to limit the spread of the virus?  To be honest, I don't miss very much, but I consider myself lucky. I have a job, so no cares about income, and it's a job that requires I'm going out of the house and being among people (I'm an OR-nurse). I have a family, so I'm not on my own. I have lots of hobbies, so I'm never bored. Except for night shifts I didn't go out of the house in the evening anyway, so I don't really suffer from the curfew either. But of course there are some things that I miss (luxuries, no necessities) and that is getting coffee or lunch somewhere with friends and having vacations out of my own country. I love seeing different environments, especially nature, but what I love the most is trying out local delicacies and eating breakfast.  The last trip I made before corona came was to Lisbon, Portug...

 Time for baby presents, apparently. Three of my colleagues are expecting and one just delivered a little girl, so there's work to be done. I finished the first present this week, a little swan that I made before for another colleague, but which still is one of my favorite things to make for a baby girl. The white yarn I had to buy new,  because what I had left was way to little to make this swam, but for beak, legs and crown I could use a bit of my stash.     Pattern :  Victoria the Swan from Amigurumi Treasures by Erinna Lee Yarn: various colors by Panduro     ~*~ My Forest Fog Cowl was featured by Creative Jewish Mom and All Things Kitchen ! My Crochet Basket was featured by Pattern Paradise !

Stash Buster 6 We all had such a great week here in The Netherlands! After a couple of years of having a winter that just wasn't a winter, with no snow or ice, this year finally the temperatures dropped low enough and for long enough to freeze all lakes, ditches, canals and channels, so we finally could skate on natural ice! Skating fever took over because skating is in the Dutch people's blood. It's were we grow up with. In my youth we could skate every year, most years for a couple of weeks in a row, but the last years winters were a bit limp. After almost a year now of staying inside as much as possible and seeing not many people, all due to covid (what else), this week of frozen waters and finally being able to use our skates after a couple of years, was no less than a present! We all needed it.  For me it meant a lot more work in the operation theater, because I had a couple of night shifts, but I was just glad we could help everybody with fractures and such. After a s...

  Stash Buster 5 As told my New Years Resolution was to use up as much yarn stash as possible, because cupboards and drawers are bulging, but some projects only lead to more yarn, because skeins of one kind are just too little to be able to make something useful or nice from it.   This cowl for example. I saw this Scheepjes Stonewashed XL skeins a couple of years ago for a nice price and just bought it, without thinking of what I could make of the yarn.I tried some things, a blanket, a cushion, a throw, but I wasn't really enthousiastic. The yarn is difficult to draw out, so I threw all the just started projects away. In the end I put the yarn away in a drawer and didn't try any longer.   Just now I came across a cowl and since it's getting colder here in The Netherlands I finally found a purpose. Great! Except for having too little skeins now: I had to double the amount of yarn to have enough for making the cowl. Fortunately the ordered color of the new sk...

 For my husband I made this cup with polymere clay letters, although I don't think he will ever use it. Especially not when he has meetings in Teams or Google Meet for work, haha! I guess it will end up as a little flower vase, which is totally fine with me.     ~*~ My Heart Bird Feeder was featured by:    Sum of Their Stories Sew Can Do Let's Add Sprinkles The Apple Street Cottage Grandma Ideas All Things Kitchen Imparting Grace The Answer is Chocolate The Cottage Market Funky Junk Interiors ly   

Don't you think the best thing in Winter is to sit under a blanket in the evening, watching movies with your love and/or your kids? Curtains closed, candles lighted, fire burning. I love it.   My blankets are lying around most of the time, on or beside the couch. I thought a basket would be convenient. Because I was running out of white cotton yarn I wanted to order some and saw the bulky yarn used for crochet baskets was on sale, so I ordered some of that, too. Not really a stash buster (as told before my New Year's resolution is to get rid of at least half of the mountain of yarn that I have stored everywhere around the house), but I have to be honest: buying new yarn makes me so happy, haha! What's so great about bulky yarn: projects are finished nice and fast! So hereby I present: The Blanket Basket!    Pattern : I made this pattern up myself Yarn : Spesso Chunky Cotton Marine by Hoooked Yarn ~*~ My Cup Cozies were featured by Creative Jewish Mom , Oombawka Des...