Time to vote!

Garnstudio Drops have presented their new collection online and are waiting for your vote. Click here for the voting page. These are some of the designs that I have voted for.

Christmas isn't over yet

I like ornaments, so when Christmas was over and the tree was leaving I found a new place for these chrystal ornaments. According to Sheng Fui it is positive with chrystals in a sun lit room, so I simply hanged the ornaments in our IKEA paper lamps that needed some extra excitement. Voila!

Project #??

I started this new project a few days ago: a cotton cardigan with a different diamond pattern on the yoke that I found in the latest issue of Interweave Knits. After I bought that issue I signed up for a 2-year subscription to the magazine. Liked it a lot. :) I hope the pattern will show off well in the dark chocolate mercericed cotton that has been waiting in my archive boxes for the perfect project...

Hook(ed) on broches

One of my weaknesses is that I'm VERY fond of broches. I eventually got tired of keeping them in a drawer where I had limited overview over my "collection". So I made this prototype for a broch hanger (when I'm finished with the real one I will post a picture, but to be honest, I haven't started it yet). It turns out that metal wire could be used for almost anything. I simply bent it back and forth to create the arms to put the closed pins on.

1. Glass painted with mirror paint on the back. Fell in love with it in a 2nd hand shop.
2. Jackie Kennedy Replica from Smithsonian Institute. A different souvenier.
3. I was looking for a Lord of the Ring leaf pin replica on ebay.com, and found this great substitute. More for less so to say.
4. I quite often get comments on the antique style of this broch. I bought it on sale at H&M. Treasures are to be found anywhere.
5. This is a real threasure made from a gold mixed metal and a rose carved out of pearl. I won't tell you where I got it! ;)

Stones, sand and seashell

These pots are originally designed for conserving jam, but I wanted to conserve the feeling from the island where my grandmother lives. Since I have more pelargonium than I have space, the pots works as both memory keepers and pelargonium pedestals....

Christmas in Wookie-land (or I finally finished my scarf)

I finally finished my Christmas scarf! The Yarn Lady gave me 3 skeins of the yarn for Christmas, but with the size I made I needed to add a couple of extra skeins (which were hard to get hands on). The original idea was to match my hat, but by now it is a bit too warm outside (at least most of the time). Luckily, a much loved one gave me permission to wear it with black. I'm looking forward to a long cold Swedish summer when I can wear a black dress and a XL petrol mohair scarf! ;)

The design of the scarf is Super Simple:
Cast on as many stitches as you need (make a swatch and calculate how many stitches you have per 10 cm and multiply it with the width you want for the top of the triangel). Knit 7 rows.
- On the next row (1): Knit 7 stitches, make a decrease (K2tog), knit until there are 9 stitches on your left needle, make a decrease (psso), and knit 7.
- On the next row (2): Knit 7 stitches, purl until there are 7 stitches left, knit to end.
Repeat 1 and 2 until there are 17 stitches left. Knit 7, lift the next stitch as if to knit, knit the next to stitches together, pull the lifted stitches over (2 stitches decreased). Repeat this decrease over the middle 3 stitches on every other row until a single stich remains. Secure. Add fringes and pompoms if desired.

My precious - or a gift with heart

Another thing that my grandmother made me when I was a child is this heart cushion. It is still on the bed. It is a lot of love in it and great proof that the cost of an project is not equal to the receipents response to it. Shiny polyester fabric (usually used for lining) is inexpensive, so is the stuffing if you buy it from ikea. :)

Anyway, it is a great simple design to this pretty cushion. I just got the idea that I could do a matching cusion (heart or star perhaps?) to my neice's quilt (of the quilt backside leftovers). Perfect for Christmas (excuse me for being the early Christmas bird, but I have to think about giving my sewing machine some service).

On the inside of Birdie Birdie (or unintended use by ikea)

Batting is quite expensive, which sometimes make the inside of a stuffed animal more costly than the outside. My solution is to go to ikea instead of to the craft store when it is time to stuff the new being. You see, there is a lot (150 g!!) of batting to be found inside their $1 cushions... ;)