Howling at the Moon

 Normally there isn't much that I do for a Valentine's day mood in our house, but for some reason this year I feel like decorating a bit, even though we aren't at home on the day itself. We will stay in a little cabin in the wood from friday till monday, but I'm thinking of bringing some garlands, vases for flowers and little presents. Maybe it's because I'm really looking forward to that weekend and decorating the cabin adds just a bit more to the fun and coziness.  This weekend I bought these cherry blossom branches, cut out lots of hearts and sticked them to the branches. Very simple, but I really love the result. 

  This week I finished another baby blanket with pompoms, a blanket that I made two times before, although in other colors. This one is in grey and pink.  Pattern: Herringbone Double Crochet Stitch  at Daisy Farm Crafts Yarn: Royal Grey by Zeeman ~*~ My Wrapping Shawl was featured at the You're The Star  linkparty!  Valentine the Dragon was featured by Oombawka Design  and My Slices of Life !

  Don't you love this little dragon with his cute face? I already bought this pattern last year and even made a start with it, but for some reason gave up after I made the head. Don't know why, maybe I started too late to be in time for Valentine's Day. But YAY, this year I made it!  Pattern: Little Dragon by DollPatternShop Yarn: Katia Planet No3999 and No3951 by Katia ~*~ My Cake for Birds was featured by Imparting Grace ,  Funky Junk Interiors ,  Pieced Pastimes  and Country Crafts ! My Valentine's Hat was featured by My Thrift Store Addiction  and My Bijou Life !

 Every now and then I stumble upon a nice workshop that I would like to follow. 'Who would like to go along with me?', I then ask in my Facebook group of friends. There's always someone who wants and the nice thing about it, is that the composition of the group is always sort of a surprise. People that I would have never asked in person, because of my assumption that particular person would not really be interested in a workshop like that, react very enthusiastic. And sometimes people come along because they like the others in the group. This weekend I went to a workshop for making cyanotypes of plants. This time my husband's cousin came with me. And that's exactly what I like: we don't see each other very much, but she has the same age as I do and we go along very well, actually. But I would never have thought about asking her to go with me.  Anyway, this is what we came home with: To get the image you impregnate aquarel paper with a chemical mix of carefully m...

 A friend of mine will be delivering a little girl in a couple of weeks, so I pulled up my crochet hook again and made Ming the Cat again.  Pattern: Ming the Cat from Amigurumi Treasures by Erinna Lee Yarn: various left overs from Katia and Scheepjes ~*~ My handmade Christmas Cards were featured by Ginx Craft! My shawl was featured by Two Chicks and a Mom , The Cottage Market ,   Shabby Art Boutique  and Pieced Pastimes !

 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 !

 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 !

 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 !