MyGurumi

Ludwig Pattern - at last

2011-10-16T20:01:00.003+02:00

Hi my loves, I know you waited and waited and waited and now it's finally done :)

Ludwig has gotten his mane (just in time for the winter season) and the pattern is all written up.
You will find the download link below. I will keep this pattern a freebe until New Year's so if you ever want to work it, download now ;)

p.s. I find he looks like Lionel Richie in the "Hello" video, what do you think?

drop everything and watch this

2011-10-12T19:42:00.002+02:00

Poussière from Poussiere LeFilm on Vimeo.

just found this in my news feed, you need to watch it, it's so sweet!!!
source

Aaaaaargh

2011-10-11T20:52:00.003+02:00

Aargh - not as much pirate like but more in a dammit what happened way.
Time is running so fast, I have no idea what happened. It's already autumn out there and Ludwig still is mane-less (even though a man would really warm his head).
Well during the last couple of weeks I worked like crazy and needed to travel a good amount of the time (I would share pictures of hotel rooms, but you know what they say: a hotel bed is a hotel bed is a hotel bed). Then I got sick (pretty bad cold with fever and everything) and now I have a week off and decided to let you guys know what's up over here and finally post the last bits of the Ludwig pattern and now it's raining like crazy, it's all dark and grey and I can't take proper pictures for the pattern. It almost seems like the universe doesn't want me to finish this particular pattern...

I do my best! I promise

because I feel so bad for not letting you know what's going on, during a last few weeks I got plenty new subscribers (hi everybody ^__^) and they didn't had anything new to read, I mean you subscribe to a blog and you want to READ, don't you? And all my loyal "old" subscribers didn't have anything to do around here as well, I am so sorry! And all of you who wrote, thanks alot, I'm really doing fine, it's just time flying by soooo fast, I mean it's autumn by now, I even made candles yesterday, because you know, when it's cold outside you want a cuddly home ( I have no idea where to place them, in my new flat I seem to miss candle area, but I will sure find something sooner or later)

so again, I feel bad for being so quiet and Ludwig will have hair ASAP

hugs, Diana

Be Late For Something Day

2011-09-05T20:03:00.005+02:00

Modern living and society puts incredible pressures on us to meet challenging deadlines, observe rules and regulations, and to regulate our lives by tight schedules. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just stop for a little bit and see what happens?
Be Late For Something Day encourages you to take a step back from your schedule and intentionally be late for something – remember that things can go on without you, and maybe it’s not all quite as important as you thought; after all, you need some ‘me time’!

In 1956, Les Waas founded Procrastinators’ Club of America. Shortly after, the club’s committee designated September 5 as Be Late for Something Day to promote the positive parts of procrastination. “Most people think they don’t have time to stop and smell the roses—this day tries to alleviate that factor,” Waas says.

found here and here

my dear friend Garfield is pretty good at this:

and as I am not very good at this my life drowns in work the last couple of days and Ludwig will have to wait a bit longer to have hair, sorry for the delay

wordless Wednesday

2011-08-24T08:01:00.000+02:00

mysteriously walking

2011-08-21T15:32:00.002+02:00

so Ludwig can grow further, I didn't take pictures yet but you can give him arms and legs now and Hey a little Mystery in a CAL is never wrong, right? ^__^

new pattern part: download now

typo: on page 5, row 4 of arms it should read: (sc5, m2) x3

oh

2011-08-19T08:04:00.004+02:00

sorry for my absence for Ludwig, I'm in bed with a cold and don't feel like crocheting at all, instead I sleep, drink gazillions of peppermint tea, watch DVDs and knitted a bit. Mindless, non-thinking, straight forward knitting, and although I'm in bed for almost four days now I didn't made much progress:

it's a cowl, so I don't catch a new cowl immediately ;P

Ludwig update

2011-08-14T11:46:00.002+02:00

the next part of the Ludwig pattern can be downloaded now :) ravelry should have sent the update automatically but in case it didn't you can download it here:

download now

it includes the facial details you can see in the last post. I play along with hair/mane styles in the meantime - there are quite a few ways it can be done :)

oh this is so much fun, I almost had forgotten how much it is, thank you all

Peekaboo - I see you

2011-08-12T15:06:00.004+02:00

mew or roar?
a little glimpse at the next part of the CAL pattern, which I will make available on Sunday :)

Ludwig CAL starts now

2011-08-10T14:56:00.006+02:00

so the CAL starts right away :)

this is what you will receive with the first part of the pattern:

the lions head and body and, of course with a behind (which is facing us in this picture) ^__^

you can download the pattern here:

download now

or you can go to ravelry and start the pattern, you will get the new pattern automatically there when I update it :) also you can add comments/questions/pictures at my rav group, I will interact there and answer every question that might occur :)

of course you can also share your comments here as well ^__^

now get your hook ready and choose a color for your lion because I can't wait to meet your lion kings :)

oh, before I forget to mention, next part of the pattern will follow on sunday

Ludwig

2011-08-08T19:41:00.002+02:00

when I created the "pattern" page for my CAL at ravelry I needed to name my lion, and since I tend to give my creatures human-like names and I wanted to name my lion something starting with an "L" the first name coming to my mind was Ludwig, quick decision the pattern would be Ludwig, the lion ... but then I started thinking about the name and it turns out Ludwig is a must-have-name for lions, I mean another famous Ludwig with lion like hair was van Beethoven:

and just think of Ludwig XIV - the sun king as well, I mean royal and sunny ;)

Ludwig is for lions ^__^

*pictures taking from wikipedia.com

let's crochet along

2011-08-07T15:39:00.004+02:00

who wants to join me? I want to make a lion, simple, cute and little . . . testing a few hair styles, or mane styles in this case ^__^
in case you want to join, I will put up a ravelry pattern for the CAL and update it as I go, maybe you want to share you're pics here as well, or in case of questions or comments or chatting or anything really

I think I will start the CAL in midweek, so keep you're hooks ready

how to - make your amis arms and legs move

2011-07-31T09:07:00.006+02:00

The classic amigurumis arms or legs are either sewn on or crocheted to the body (like my trolls or critters). Some dolls even have arms or legs that are part of the body (like my fairies or human like dolls).
But then you find a pattern for a doll and find that you would like to have this doll with movable arms or legs so you can pose your doll; Barney is a doll that's been designed with arms and legs that are movable.

Today I want to show you how to use classic bear joints for your amigurumi dolls and I want to show you how to create a neat alternative in case you don't want to use classic joints (maybe you can't find them or they don't fit)

Classic bear joints are most often three- or sometimes four-piece joints. They can contain disks and washers and wobble pins or nut and bolts, some joints resemble classic safety eyes:

you could even use safety eyes as joints

___________

now, how do you install them? the standard method would be to place one part of the joint inside your dolls body and the matching part into the arm or leg:

1 - crochet all legs and arms before crocheting the body
2 - don't stuff just yet
3 - add one part of the joint to the e.g. leg: place one disk/disk with shank inside the leg, position it at the inside of the leg, add the washer and bolt resp. washer and wobble pin by pushing the pin or bolt through your material
4 - stuff
5 - close leg (maybe crochet the last row and bind off)

sources for classic joints:
mohairbearmakingsupplies.co.uk
the lovely Clara from 6060 on etsy
there are plenty other resources as well

___________

The alternative to this classic joints would be what I would call "button-joints". Sometimes classic joints are really hard to find or (which I found to be a problem) they just don't fit through two layers of crocheted fabric. Another reason to search for an alternative would be the size of the classic joints would be either too small or too big for your dolls arms or legs.
The "button joint" can be easily adapted to solve any of this problems. Pick smaller buttons to fit small arms/legs, you can find buttons everywhere (I like to use those blouse-buttons that I would keep in case I would ever need them again, but of couse never did) and since you're using yarn to built the joint you can use it for the thickest fabrics as well.

what you need and what the button joint will look like:

buttons (find some that fit into arms and legs easily, you can choose bigger ones for the body) and yarn or other tear-proof thread like fishing line.

how to do it:

1 - prepare your buttons: cut yarn or fishing line to pieces of about 10"/25cm and pull them through your buttons as pictured
2 - pull the fishing line/yarn ends through one layer of your leg/arm, be careful to position at the inner side of each arm/leg, so you don't accidentally will receive arms or legs that face the wrong way
3 - stuff
4 - finish leg or arm (crochet last round and bind off, hide yarn ends)

5 - now find the position on your dolls body where the arms/ legs will be attached
6 - pull the fishing line/yarn ends which are coming from the inside of an arm or leg through an hole in your bodys fabric
7 - push a button over the yarn/fishing line ends (space them evenly)
8 - tie knot (fix with a drop of glue if you like to make it extra secure)

Again it's very helpful to crochet the arms/legs before you start the body, this way you can add the prepared arms and legs when needed and stuff and finish the body afterwards.

I like this method very much and will use it again on other dolls. I also was very surprised that the button-joint was a lot less wonky than I had expected.

Hope you liked this tutorial and find it useful,
take care
Diana

2011-07-28T14:30:00.003+02:00

[Bloggy] ... don't tell anyone but I noticed Diana's putting together another tutorial and it will be on Amigurumi ... don't tell her, I told you ... shush

OH, Bloggy will you stop spoiling my readers? darn and how come you think I wouldn't see that you post here? after all you are my Bloggy-Blog

^__^

Tutorial - felt wine rack

2011-07-23T19:33:00.005+02:00

I always liked the idea of these cute felt wine racks that hold 6 bottles but found their price a little too much when I believed it was an easy craft project. And since I'm cooking risottos and soups that require wine like crazy lately I use up quite a lot of white wine (I don't drink any so I never felt the need for a wine rack before, but now I can see a use for it, at least for a small one)

and as it turns out the project was an easy one:

what you need
thick felt, paper for a pattern, a ruler, a cutter and chalk to transfer the pattern, and some yarn and a needle to sew everything together

first make a basic pattern on paper (you will use 13 cm/5" for each bottle plus 1cm/o.5" as seam allowance at each outer edge, so in this case: 1cm seam + 2 bottles (2x13cm) + 1cm seam; if you want to make it bigger just add 13cm for each bottle) - I found 17cm/6.75" to be a good depth for the wine rack - in the end my pattern measured 28cm x 17cm - now just transfer the pattern to the felt using the chalk

cut four pieces of felt to the size of your pattern (two pieces of felt for each row of wine bottles) using the cutter and the ruler

mark the middle on every piece of felt and sew two pieces together, repeat until all felt pieces are used up

now mark the middle of the "wine sections" but don't forget to add the seam allowance, I marked at 7.5cm from the outer edge in - sew together to make it look like this:

almost finished: mark the 1cm for the seam at the outer edge of the upper and lower felt pieces and sew together so it will look like the following picture:

the main idea of sewing everything together is to start in the very center of your wine rack to be able to reach every seam without breaking your fingers
you can easily adapt this pattern for wine racks that will hold 6 bottles or even 9 or 12 (3 rows of wine with 3 or 4 bottles)
and you don't need to use thick felt if you can't find any (I found mine on ebay) I believe a nice classic fabric that's properly lined can make lovely wine racks as well, it just may take a little longer (it took me about 2 hours to finish my wine rack)

have fun, Diana

Before Bloggy starts complaining again ...

2011-07-19T22:40:00.005+02:00

... I will post a few pictures of knitting, finished knitting to be more precise.

Me? Complaining? I AM NEVER COMPLAINING, I'm the most quiet blog anyone could wish for ..rolls eyes.. although I would LOVE to see knitting pictures, I haven't seen some in a while, those acorns just don't count, really

Bloggy? will you calm down? you're such a diva

calm down? DIVA? ..rolls eyes again.. I only want more crafting here ... just saying

... anyways, the knitting I'm talking about is my "Chinese Christmas" pulllover I made last year. I finished it just after new years and even got my friend Alex to take pictures, I just never seem to have shown you the finished piece.

unfortunately it felted a little after the first washing in the washing machine, not toooo bad, but the pattern got lost a tad

google +

2011-07-17T20:46:00.001+02:00

I just got invited to google+ and I'm kind of exited - yay

anyone of you already there? any experiences so far? any cool circles I should enter?

yay

I feel like a chipmunk...

2011-07-15T20:43:00.003+02:00

being on vacation and with the colder weather I found some time for knitting ... and I do feel the need to eat some nuts

recalling the week

2011-07-03T12:24:00.003+02:00

at the beach

2011-07-01T19:57:00.003+02:00

with this title you might think I've been on vacation but I just got home from a 3 day workshop in a hotel near the beach, this was our view at the first evening only 2 minutes walk away from the hotel

the rest of the time it was stormy and rainy and you could think we were glad we had to work instead of having a free time at the beach ^__^ nice weekend everyone

dinner

2011-06-28T20:24:00.002+02:00

Bloggy, I made a fantastic spaghetti sauce with cauliflower yesterday and the lemon juice really does the trick. The recipe can be found here and I will definitely make this again, I loooove cauliflower with breadcrumbs and I loooove pasta, now I can have both at the same time ^__^

blushing

2011-06-23T19:15:00.000+02:00

the knitting and a pizza

2011-06-19T07:30:00.005+02:00

oh, Bloggy, your last comment was a bit rude, don't you think? Readers do you agree with me? wasn't Bloggy a little snappish?
But Bloggy, you know I'm nice and will show you more of my knitting now. It is lace, sort of, as you suspected. I'm knitting an afghan with a very pretty lace pattern by Herbert Niebling (link to his ravelry pattern page). It's his "Eichenlaub" (oakleaves) and I'm using worsted weight yarn instead of lace weight because ever since I've seen the Hemlock Ring Blanket I decided that any beautiful doily/lace/shawl pattern could be turned into an unique afghan/throw by changing yarn weight. And there I go now knitting a warming throw for my couch in the middle of summer heat.

and I made pizza today, I'm still getting used to my new oven and this pizza turned out better than any before it. I'm admitting I feel a little proud.

just for you

2011-06-13T16:32:00.002+02:00

Bloggy, this next few pictures are just for you, I just took my camera and made a few snapshots of my balcony, you see it's pretty green there

and do you see the tomatoes? I love the fact that I have tomatoes this year, how do you like it?

oh, and also my knitting:

hugs,
Diana

_______

THAT'S you're knitting? What is it? I mean don't get me wrong, I appreciate that you took the time and made pictures, and your balcony looks inviting! but that picture of the knitting is bad. I have no idea what I see. I believe it could be lace, sort of, in case the pattern below belongs to the knitting above, but then the yarn is pretty bulky, soooo .... is it lace?

regards,
Bloggy

Bloggy again

2011-06-12T21:40:00.002+02:00

.... ooh you're growing tomatoes? Maybe I would like to see that, I didn't know you could do such things. What is your balcony looking now? you know, it's not like I could just stand up, walk around and take a look myself, I'm sort of attached to your computer ... And what are you knitting anyways?

take care,
Bloggy

well

2011-06-12T18:26:00.002+02:00

Hi Bloggy,

well .. I don't really know where to start [scratching my head], I didn't meant to hurt your feelings, I didn't know you had feelings, for you have always been so quiet and shy and you always, always held your peace. But I am sorry, really, let me apologize. And didn't even know what kept me so long, I mean you are right I did knit a little next to you on my sofa, not much though, only a little, summer came around and with the warm weather yarn isn't as joyful as it is in winter, but still I like you and the summer isn't much of an explanation, is it? Also life just happened to be there and work and everything, I started jogging and I learned how to prune tomatoes and I decorated my balcony, I enjoy my balcony alot lately, this year I will have food there !! yay
I also spent a bit of time on youtube, I even found a video on procrastinating and I was reminded of you and then I felt guilty for not even visiting you to say "hi" and I just couldn't come around for I was believing you might not like me anymore and that's how I was away, I also read alot, like the Hunger Games trilogy (which was very very good, by the way), I was sort of busy I guess ...

anyways I will promise to better care for you, honestly, I don't like that you felt all left alone and neglected.

hugs,
Diana

hello?

2011-06-11T13:44:00.004+02:00

Hello Diana,

this is your blog saying Hi. I was just wondering what you're doing, I mean you didn't come visit me for a while nor did you post anything. I don't want to complain or anything but I do feel a bit lonely here ... all alone. Sometimes I think I can hear you knit, I could swear I could hear metal needles clicking, and I think "cool she will come post something soon" but then you don't. Diana, I feel neglected, please come visit me soon. I'm sure you're readers feel similar.

Yours sincerely,
Bloggy Blog

overwhelming cuteness

2011-02-23T18:16:00.002+01:00

last time I wrote I told you I asked some lovely ladies over on ravelry to test the pattern for Barney, I even made a group so we could chat and invited others to fill the group with more life
and today I want to show you the super cute outcomes of this testing, all bears are soooooo awesome! I have been on a congress the last weekend and when I came home I found these bears and they made my evening so perfect! but enough said the bears:

I especially love how placing the ears and eyes differently gave him a completely different expression!

Barney Bear - the pattern

2011-02-20T20:25:00.007+01:00

Meet Barney, he's the cutest bear you will ever have the joy to create. Barney is designed with movable arms and legs so you can play with him and position him the way you like (click here for a tutorial). He also can be your little personal guardian by adding cute little wings, which are included with the pattern as well.

USD 6.50

Crochet pattern in pdf format, designed for a E / 3.5mm hook and worsted weight yarn, written out in plain English.

This pattern provides a stitch-by-stitch guide.

This pattern is for the intermediate crocheter or an advanced beginner with knowledge of crocheting in the round, increasing and decreasing. Special stitches are explained particularly.

Using a E / 3.5mm hook and the apropriated yarn you should receive a bear about 7 inches / 18 cm high.

But keep in mind that the size of a finished doll strongly hinges on your yarn and hook.

prototype finished

2011-02-06T19:39:00.002+01:00

yes, yes, yes .... finally I finished Barney, my sweet bear.

this is a bad picture taking with my mobile in bad light conditions but I wanted to share anyways, he's done!!! and he's got wings too!!!
Now I'm writing down the pattern and will test it once more, also will look out for a tester over at ravelry

and those of you who called for naming him Barney, I will contact you tomorrow :o) congrats

KNITTING

2011-01-20T18:13:00.002+01:00

it lightens your day after a tough one on the road! coming home, feeling almost ready for bed, opening the mail and what did I find? the missing skein for my pullover!!!

yeah!!

off to wind a yummy ball and knit a few rows ...

Happy New Year

2011-01-16T17:48:00.002+01:00

a little late but coming from my heart!

Over the Christmas and New Years Holidays I knitted like crazy, last time I was here I showed you the swatch I made and from this swatch I made this sweet pullover:

I used the chinese lace pattern from Barbara Walkers second treasury book and because I knitted most of it over Christmas I called it Chinese Christmas, just logical right? I really like the outcome, it fits great, only thing is I ran out of yarn, I emailed the company which is normally only sending a minimum of 500 gram per color and yarn and hope they will be so kind and make an exception for me.

close up

quickly before the year ends

2010-12-31T14:39:00.002+01:00

I want to wish you all a Very Happy New Year!

I send my best wishes to each and everyone of you
also I want to thank you for staying with me and joining me in 2010, without you reading and commenting this blog wouldn't be so much fun!

Have a great year - Enjoy your parties - Have Fun - Stay save
reading you again next year
xox Diana

winter wonderland

2010-12-05T10:32:00.007+01:00

lovely, right?

during the past weeks I didn't do much, I had some problems with my back and cervical spine and couldn't sit long enough to knit or crochet. I painted though, those of you who follow me on facebook could watch my painting getting finished. I loved working with oil colors again since I didn't touch a brush for a couple of years, and this painting will definitely not be the last.

I didn't finish my bear amigurumi project, but I made wings for him, so it's still on my to do list.
I also knitted a few rows (like 10 or so) on a stole I'm working on, it's the high seas stole by Kieran Foley, but this project starts to bore me, it "forces" me to repeat 40 rows for 9 times, I'm half through the 8th repeat now and it really doesn't yell for more at the moment, I start to feel like this is more a summer stole than a winter one so the urge to finish is getting small too.
I love the pattern itself though, the waves so much remind me of home that I get a little homesick.

I do want to knit though and started a pullover today, I love these pullovers with a "waterfall" collar or whatever they're called at the moment, you know those pullovers with wide and really loose turtlenecks that drape around your necks like cowls. Want to include a lovely lace pattern from one of Barbara Walkers Treasury books.

so long I wish you all a lovely run-up to Christmas, I sure hope to blog one or two post

see me walk ...

2010-10-02T18:55:00.005+02:00

... and sit and simply feel great because my legs and arms are movable! Mommy added buttons to make this possible and I feel super cool :) only thing is mommy still works on my eyes :( I still can't see a single thing but I can hear mommy sing and I can feel her dance with me, she sings she likes me ... I like her too :D

so, Teddy has arms and legs and is really a pretty little bear, I still work on its eyes which is a little more difficult than I expected. Thanks once more for all your great name suggestions, your comments are fantastic :)

I grow

2010-09-26T10:27:00.003+02:00

says bear, without a name ;-)

I made the legs now and really like the outcome, I attached them with buttons, so the legs are pose-able and he can sit :-)

still I'm searching for a name, thanks all who posted in the last post, there are a few names I REALLY like and I thought I will put all names I like after finishing Bear into a bowl and pick one blind, this way I will find a name, and the lucky winner will get the pattern first :-)

name me

2010-09-24T12:28:00.003+02:00

I crochet again, the impulse to crochet actually carried on and so this little fellow starts to live. Big belly, even bigger head with small ears but big eyes to come. No clue on what kind of arms I'll like (short, long, clumsy, thin or thick) but he will walk on big feet. Oh yeah and he is missing a name, so far the bear is a "he" but that might just be the dark brown.

any ideas? also I might add that I plan to make it a good bear with little wings and a bad bear with little horns and tail ;-)

so today

2010-09-22T10:05:00.002+02:00

is a special day, it's my birthday or as a dear friend of mine said this morning it's my sternchen-day ;-)
and to celebrate I crochet a bit again, made some sketches yesterday for a handsome bear, watch out

hugs, Diana

exciting

2010-09-19T12:45:00.003+02:00

do you remember this big experiment?

now I do it again and dye ready made clothes, I found a fabulous trench coat, fantastic cut and silhouette but the color was too ordinary for my taste, great price too, so I bought it and am now dying it in the washing machine and am thrilled to see the result. The original color was a pale old rose - I added may green - and hope to receive a green that's strong but not too intense

before:

after:

still moist therefore only an impression of the color - limey =^__^=

7 things

2010-09-08T20:12:00.002+02:00

I just received an award from goldibug - thanks my friend :-)

and one thing this award includes is to share seven things about myself that you probably don't knew yet, so I thought I might just do that

1 - on Sundays I like to wear pajamas all day long
2 - I like chive sandwiches the most
3 - my bed is placed on 4 tables - like to sleep higher AND a lot of yarn space underneath
4 - I didn't dare to start reading the last Harry Potter for almost two weeks because once I started I knew it was going to end and I just couldn't stand the idea of Harry Potter ending
5 - I don't really care about the full moon, what bothers me is the new moon
6 - I feed my facebook aquarium every day - twice!
7 - a giant plush spider is watching over my jewelry box

ice cream

2010-08-31T20:03:00.001+02:00

just a little funny video I just found reading my blogs, it's great:

a yoke

2010-08-29T12:15:00.002+02:00

I just learned that a yoke is a "Rundpasse" in german and that makes me happy because I found a good tutorial on that in a book I have. And this means I can finally continue on my Snailigan which was laying around for months because I didn't knew how to continue. All parts are knit until right under the arms and now I finally have an idea how to go on :-)

I love ravelry =^__^=

a great evening

2010-08-22T15:10:00.003+02:00

yesterday I've been out to the "Schlössernacht" in Potsdam near Berlin. It was a really fantastic evening - Sanssouci and its park was illuminated beautifully, there were people with rococo style costumes and even a joyful fireworks after midnight. During the whole evening/night you could hear flute music coming from everywhere, really a great evening.

a little knitting in secret

2010-08-18T16:46:00.001+02:00

wrong side showing
-
right side hiding

;-)

blooming

2010-08-11T10:38:00.004+02:00

thanks so much for all the lovely comments on my new needle case, I really love it and might add some instructions info if you like.
Besides sewing I started thinking about a new knitting project, have a few on the needles but a girl can never have too much fun, right? Well the new project will be color work again, I had the idea when I saw a cardigan with flowers all over and found a vest with flowers will be nice as well. And I started charting, little flowers and a "petal path" to break the whole picture a little ;)

a needle home in teal

2010-08-10T09:23:00.004+02:00

Did you know I had a sewing machine and that I actually used to sew long before I started knitting or even crocheting again? Well I have and it was about time I used it once more. My old knitting needle cases were overfilled and I started "storing" my knitting needles in strange places like doorknobs *making skeptical face*

I used to have a classic needle roll for my double pointed needles and a three-fold-flap-over-needle case for my circulars, both I made ages ago and was a little disappointed right after finishing because they already were sort of overfilled even back then, when I only had one needle in each size. Nevertheless I never took the time to make a new one, not until now:

It's inspired by the Della Q, which is a clever design but never featured all sizes I would need. I made ten smaller bags for my 2 mm to 4.5 mm needles and eight bigger bags for all circs with less flexible cables like 5 mm and all bigger sizes. Behind the actual needle cases I added two smaller pockets for my gauge and markers. The whole bag carries 35 circs at the moments and it definitely can carry even more. Below you can find some progress pictures:

it's not completely finished yet, I still need to add some numbered tags to the single pockets, but I want to iron them on so I can still do that whenever I find time for it

updating

2010-08-06T08:02:00.003+02:00

oi, didn't play around here in a while and I got so much to show and tell you. I'm on vacation at the moment and knit like crazy, buy yarn like crazy and buy knitting books like crazy. I finished the tendrilous socks a while ago and am working on a pdf at the moment, so all of you can download the complete pattern with all its charts and directions, but I still need to take some pictures and show you how lovely they turned out (I made a picot BO with bigger picots - very neat). And I casted on a new project, the GreenGable-hoodie from Mari Muinonen / tikru, who also designed Sylvi and I made some little progress on my snailigan.

oh, and I got plans for two new colorwork pieces, maybe both will become vests, the first definitely will, I will call it "blossom" and it will have little and big flowers all over and I am going to Hamburg today to get some yarn. The other will be ocean themed, I started drawing and charting little fish and shells and waves and stuff, but still need some final ideas for it.

cheesecake chocolate muffins

2010-07-25T17:13:00.006+02:00

today I baked and I made tulip muffin paper:

Cheesecake Chocolate Muffins

200 g cream cheese
1 large egg yolk
5 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

200 ml milk
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
100 g chocolate (semisweet or bittersweet)
100 g sugar
30 g butter (salted)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
200 g all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder

preheat oven

mix cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a bowl - put aside

mix milk, egg and egg white, cocoa powder and vanilla extract in a bowl
melt butter and chocolate in microwave, stir into milk-egg mixture - put aside

mix flour and baking powder, blend into milk-chocolate mix until no more flour is visible

divide dough into muffin form and add cream cheese mix

bake about 20-30 min at 175°C

Tulip muffin paper

I always had the problem to find muffin papers for my baking forms bigger than the standard and a few month ago I saw tulip cups on bakingbites.com
and today I finally tried to make my own, I first tried to fold them up all origami style but couldn't find a proper way how to so I just cutter squares of baking paper and cut into the paper on four sides, which worked perfectly well =^__^=

now that came unexpected

2010-06-20T19:42:00.003+02:00

I knit on the leg of my tendrilous socks and increase / shape the calf by using bigger needles every 12 rows, meanwhile I'm using 3,25 mm needles and will use 3,5 mm as well in a few rows! When I casted on I thought I will end up with 3 mm needles at max.

I also started thinking about the cuff, I normally use an Italian BO which is sort of grafted but on my last pair I made picot BO and really liked the outcome as well.

and on they grow

2010-06-16T20:57:00.005+02:00

so, next step on the tendrilous socks :) now after making the heel and continuing in stockinette or even eye of patridge pattern on the back of the heel as high as I like (which is high enough for shoes not rubbing the lace) I started to make leaves again, and little bit of perfectionist that I am of course I created a pattern for the left heel and the right heel so that the leaves will start to grow symmetrically again :)

charts for left heel:

charts for right heel:

I had 27 sts on the "heel needle" and started the charts, soon I realized that there will be YO at the beginning and end of the row (as there were on the front as well) and I shifted the first knit stitch from the front to the back of each sock, this way I have a knit stitch bordering the last YO, this one was sort of loose and tended to get lost, so now it's "protected". the first YO at the front (which is now without a bordering knit companion) can handle the situation pretty good on its own [good YO ;)]

all in all, after making the charts for the heel and continuing in the main stitch pattern I have 30 sts on both needles. And I will have 30 sts on each needle until I reach the knee because I make calf shaping by switching needle sizes, I test knitted the lace in 3 different needle sizes and they looked good. I will use 2,25 mm, 2,5 mm, 2,75 mm and maybe 3 mm as well depending on much space my enormous calves will use ;)

do you believe in magic?

2010-06-15T18:31:00.006+02:00

no socks today, I just thought I'd share the song that followed me all day and made me smile all the way - what a beautiful earworm ;)

tendrilous heels

2010-06-14T19:53:00.003+02:00

so it's time for the heels :)

I left you about 2 inches before you would start your normal heels. I love short row heels and knit something which is called jo-jo heel. On the lana grossa homepage there is a great explanation for it (pdf in german AND english). Meanwhile I tweaked it a bit and added some increases before I start the heel, because as it is in the pdf it was always too tight and too short for my feet - the main technique though is absolutely cool, I never had any holes. Before I continue if you like heel flaps better make one :) there is no reason why you can't exchange any heel with another.

the heel:

I find the jo-jo heel works best when you have enough stitches to work it from and I think if my feet get bigger from toe to heel why not increase the sock as well? so I start increasing about 2 inches before I would start the heel. In this sock I increased 2 stitches on the sole every 3rd row like this *k1, m1, k until 2 sts before end, m1, k1*. Slowly the 25 sts of the sole will turn into 37 - see below

now I start to work the jo-jo heel as described in the pdf above, only I divide my stitches like this 13-11-13 and not 10-10-10 as in the pdf. After I made the heel my sock looked like this:

and because I would have much too many stitches to continue the lace pattern AND because my feet narrow after the heel AND the heel as it is right now would be too short and my shoes would rub the lace I work a few more rows of stockinette PLUS I decrease some stitches again. I decreased the 37 stitches to 27 like this *k1, k2tog, k until 3 sts before end, ssk, k1* every 3rd row and my heel now looks like this:

In case you wonder, I added an eye of patridge pattern to the back of my heels to make them more durable. ([1] *sl1, k1*, sl1 -- [3] *k1, sl1*, k1 -- k all even rows)

the feet are ready to walk

2010-06-12T14:19:00.009+02:00

After casting on I made a few more rows of stockinette stitch only far enough to cover my toes, oh did I mention I casted on with 2.25 mm needles? and then I started with the patterns for the feet, yes plural, this may look a bit difficult at the beginning, but after making the 'starting pattern' both feet have the same basic stitch, which is a little shifted at both feet, and this IS a bit weird when starting but I got used to it pretty fast. But now let me show you the charts and I hope that it will bring light into what I just wrote

the basic stitch:

to start the left foot:

to start the right foot:

as you can see I really like symmetry and I wanted the petals of the pattern to slowly "start growing" on my feet and if I finally get my SD card to work I can upload a few pictures of the knitted socks so far

last not least the stitches are:

work in pattern until ~2 inches before you would start to turn the heel. Another tip - there's a YO at the beginning and the end of every round on top of the foot, if you find that a bit hard to handle, because I did find it a bit hard, just transfer one stitch of the sole to both sides, you have the lace stitch bordered by one knit stitch, this will make 25 stitches of stockinette for the sole and 31 stitches for the lace on top (casted on 27 sts, increased 2 sts during the beginning of the lace sections and bordered by 2 sts = 31 sts)

and again, click the pictures to enlarge them

edit: got my SD to work and here some pics of the knitted pieces

let's cast on :)

2010-06-10T19:50:00.005+02:00

welcome follow knitters :) I enjoy you being here. If you have any questions post a comment or leave a message on ravelry because it's the first time ever I write down a knit pattern, so any help is welcome :)

but now let's cast on. I prefer anatomical toes, I have no idea why (in fact I never tried normal toes) maybe I only like the idea of a sock especially for my left foot and one especially made for my right foot :) plus they feel pretty good on the feet.

To cast on I use 2.25 mm needles and the Judy Becker magic cast on, I like it alot and it creates a very neat beginning and to have anatomical toes I use this chart:

this one's for one foot only, just mirror the increases for the other foot. If you click on the picture it will enlarge.

I will work both socks at a time using the magic loop technique with 2 needles.

In total we will cast on 54 stitches.

If you prefer different toes please knit your favorite version - only make sure you have 54 stitches divided on two needles at the end.

added: a little pictures of my toes ;)

would you like to knit along?

2010-06-10T07:06:00.004+02:00

I couldn't sleep last night, one reason was the summer heat the other were my new tendrilous socks. I kept thinking about how to start them and how the pattern will elongate along the leg and how fabulous they will be once they're finished and then I had the idea to make the whole process public and maybe some of you can knit along ... any followers? I will create a pattern page at ravelry too and copy'n'paste the details there as well. This evening I will cast on - we will cast on =^__^=

tendrilous swatching

2010-06-07T19:25:00.004+02:00

So I started swatching again, I want to have a little project I can carry around easily and I always wanted to try knee high socks with a 'calf shaping' made from changing needle sizes instead of increases or decreases depending on toe up or top down. Searching my knitting books I found a cute little stitch pattern that might work great for its purpose - and after finding 4 errors in the original pattern and correcting them I came up with this:

FO - bintje stockings

2010-06-05T16:15:00.002+02:00

pattern: Bintje-Socks by Jatta Saukko
yarn: Regia 4-ply, solid green
started: may 2 2010
finished: june 2 2010

modifications: made them toe up, added anatomical toes too, made an itsy bitsy alteration to the stitch pattern, I changed the [sl1-k2tog-psso] to [sl2-k1-p2sso] this way the decrease has the middle knit stitch on top, and since I was making them toe up I increased one stitch every second row instead of decresing.

all in all I'm very satisfied with the result, at the beginning I wasn't sure if I liked the stitch pattern but now they're done I really like it

_________________

oh, and I haven't forgotten my snailigan, but it's a SNAILigen so it grows very sloooowly, no seriously, a couple of weeks ago I started searching my little mess, that I call stash, for the single parts of it and found two sleeves, two different sleeves, meanwhile I reknitted one so they are both equal and am at the point when to decide how to knit all parts together so I can make a collar...

oh button where art thou

2010-05-30T17:33:00.006+02:00

so my Liesl wants to have some buttons. I bought some last year and couldn't find them after the move so I went to buy some and now I'm in a little trouble, because the buttons I bought are very nice, a little too big though, but still great matches for my Liesl. But the "real" problem is this morning I found the buttons I bought last year and they make perfect matches for the jacket BUT I only found 3 and I need 5 (or at least 4) !!! At first sight you might think 'I like the wooden ones better' but the rose ones match perfect in size and color and also they are not as prominent as the wooden ones but still will get enough attention of their own, so absolutely perfect for every day life.

So what should I do now? try to find the one perfect button I miss and live with 3 buttons until then or "put up with" the nice buttons? - you see a REAL trouble ...

the perfect match - but just not enough

the nice match - but too big and just not perfect

about roadkill and good karma

2010-04-29T18:54:00.003+02:00

my new job includes a lot of driving and seems like using the freeways includes a lot of insects that find their death on my windscreen. Thats such a sad picture and today I decided that this can't be good for my karma at all! But is there a way that will not end the lives of so many little critters?

they are kinda cute when put under a microscope, don't you think?

knitting groups are so productive

2010-04-25T13:02:00.004+02:00

yesterday I've been to my first knitting in public since being in Berlin. I met 3 wonderful ladies and got to knit the complete second sleeve of my Liesl. Casted off the sleeve in bed and now only need to add buttons and button holes. :)

Hello and good morning

2010-04-21T06:50:00.003+02:00

Today I could have slept late but as this always is - I just couldn't! So I take some time and restart on my blog =^___^=
seems like I missed my bloggoversary last week, what a shame, four years of blogging and I miss it. Well happy late bloggoversary to me!

Meanwhile I feel warm and welcome in Berlin, my flat is nearly boxfree and the only thing that is really missing is a new couch (I still sit on the floor and knit) - the balcony starts to get green (yeah!) got several tomato and chilli pepper plated, some chive and arugula and also a few herbs. I built a wardrobe in the corner of my bedroom which will take a little extra post when I hung up the curtains and today I plan to visit one of the local stitch'n'bitches - my first one ever!

doodling

2010-03-17T19:17:00.002+01:00

sometimes when classes don't get as much attention as they should:

some knitting

2010-03-11T07:09:00.004+01:00

During the last months my knitting suffered quite a bit under my new job and all the learning that it brought with it - but I feel that better times are coming soon, I have a few days off before easter and think these are great to knit and make my new home a welcoming place and last but not least I hope april is bringing me back to old levels of free time, knitting, crocheting (I still have a little gecko in mind that wants to be brought to life) and of course blogging!

but until now I want to show you a bit of my current knitting project (which is a pretty quick knit all in all but with only 4 rows a week even this takes forever)

my Liesl:

I started this little cardigan on 28th dec last year and it seems like it will be finished in time for the spring season (at least I hope so!)

little sit in

2010-03-04T11:38:00.002+01:00

hello everybody, quick hello from me =^__^=

I'm doing fine, still learning alot and still knitting far less than I wish I would but nevertheless I knit a few rows every week and would show a few pics within the next days

so far, happy early weekend everybody

xoxo, Diana

quick interruption

2010-01-07T20:16:00.002+01:00

hi everybody, I moved to Berlin now, everything worked great!!! my new flat is adorable and the new job is super fine so far! I still don't have internet at home so I'm writing from a work station at a hotel.
as far as I have internet at home I will post a few pics, there is sooo much snow here!
miss you all and I hope you a all had a great start into the new year as well

xoxo, Diana

an early happy new year!

2009-12-27T15:57:00.003+01:00

tomorrow morning I'll start to move to Berlin, today I spent packing and cleaning out and I will be glad when everything will be in its place again.

I only come by to wish you all a super great start into the new year!!!

I hope to be online soon again but don't really know when this might be (the telephone company was a bit imprecise in giving me a real date)

see you in the new year - have a good start!

december post

2009-12-17T12:52:00.006+01:00

oh boy, I admit it I lost this place for a few weeks but to defend myself I'm pretty surprised how much there is to do when you're moving into a new city, seeing friends, organizing the moving, checking dates with the old and the new flat, sleeping all day ;)

I didn't knit much, I started a new pair of gaiters but am only half way through so there's not much to see yet and I don't have a picture.

I found myself in a very typical situation for any knitter but weird situation for anybody else: last week at the sport studio when finshed and dressing again there was a lady with a super cool pair of tights and guess what I loved the pattern so much I asked if I could take a picture with my mobile (I didn't ask where she bought them or started with a compliment, nope I asked right away if I could take a picture of her leg). The tights were store bought but the pattern seems easy to be re-knit. And she let me take a picture! woo-hoo! here's a peak:

love the butterfly like stitch

I also taught crochet, which was very funny on one hand and very interesting on the other, I loved how my friend made one funny face after the other when trying a new stitch or finding herself in a tricky situation. She refused to let me take a picture of her or her work (which I can understand somehow but find very sad) but here's a pic of my dorsal fin of Chubby showing her how to make hers:

I also saw a lot of friends the last weeks and went to a super cool party last weekend - 4 days in Hannover, the last three of them partying with 20 other Prince Fans. I could give my Prince Cap to its new proud owner and laughed a lot, met new friends and old ones, Hello Mr Dieter =^__^= and enjoyed the days very very much, can't wait for the next party to come ....

in case I shouldn't post again before the holidays: have a wonderful time, spend it wisely, enjoy yourself, don't eat toooo much, but as much as you can, maybe there is snow where you are then make snow men or snow angels - have fun and happy Holidays!!!

xoxo, Diana

too fluffy

2009-12-01T12:42:00.003+01:00

it's the first of december and I made a cake, a classic marble cake, one with sour cream in it that should make it fluffilier and it is so fluffy my cake pan ate the cake:

what I miss

2009-11-22T20:14:00.005+01:00

I need to post one more time today cause I just came across the blog of an artist living in france (Chhuy-Ing IA) that made me aware of how much I miss drawing!!! Her art is awesome have a look.

when browsing through her work I came across her life drawings and these reminded me of old times when I used to draw every day - I miss!!

some little knits

2009-11-22T15:53:00.003+01:00

during the last three weeks I didn't knit much but it's enough to show you three finished objects. First I made gaiters for myself. I love to wear gaiters in winter season over my shoes/tights - they keep my feet warm, they look tight and they can hide an extra pair of socks underneath when it's really really cold. This is the first pair that I knitted and I made a little mistake with these: I made them fit my foot not my foot wearing a shoe. Nevertheless I really like them and wear them and know what to change when making my next pair.

I also made cuffs for a friend. She wanted black ones, a bit lacey and what I came up with are these beauties. I added a bit of shaping to make them tighter at the wrist and I added short rows to make the upper part a bit longer than the palm side.

And you might remember my Prince cap for another friend. I know he will love it, cause I do! After knitting it in 2 days it took me quite a while to sew in the ends and sew the facing to the inside of the hat.

sie ist ein Model

2009-11-21T15:23:00.003+01:00

wow it's been weeks since my last post, sorry about that, but I have found a new flat in Berlin, I had a cold and I knitted a little bit, not much but enough to post about that tomorrow. Today I want to show you a few pics of my first experience as a model. On 29th of october my sport studio had a feast to celebrate fall and asked me if I wanted to participate as a model - me? was my first thought - I don't see myself as a model, not at all, but I enjoyed the evening alot. Heike Wintzer of Herbstzeitlose hosted the catwalk with some of the clothes she sells which is mostly designer wear. So here are a few impressions from the show:

and this is my favorite picture; I like how happy I look

first snow = big fun

2009-11-04T16:31:00.005+01:00

today we had the first snow !!! this morning it was only cold and grey but now it's cold and white :o)
when I got home from work there were a couple of little boys on my train - at every stop they ran out of the train and made snow balls and ran back into the train until the next stop, soon they realized they might bother the other passengers (they were not I found it very funny) and so they started to ask every single person on the train: "are you annoyed?" most just smiled and denied and the boys were laughing! Hilarious - I had a big fat smile on my face leaving the train.

Now I'm torn between the need to make snow angels and my cozy couch . . .

xoxo, Diana
=^__^=

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-10-31T20:40:00.002+01:00

love Tim Burton!
wishing you all a Happy Halloween and a successful trick or treating!

but it's all so exciting

2009-10-30T15:02:00.002+01:00

everything is official now and I finally can tell you what's been happening here in the last months or what will happen in the next few weeks: I will move to Berlin! happy
why? because my new job is there! happy I quit from my job happy
It's all so exciting now, a new job, a new city, a new neighbourhood, new friends, new sky, a new flat to decorate, everything is sooo exciting. happy and it's a bit frightening too, leaving behind friends and my flat which I lived in for 10 years, will everything turn out good?

but all in all the last two weeks have been the happiest of the year! I have been grinning and singing and dancing and laughing happy

=^__^=

xoxo, Diana

lucky

2009-10-22T11:13:00.004+02:00

starting this cap I only knew the head circumference of the recipient and my gauge and after a first try, where I casted on for the exact head circumference I ripped out made a 'second' hat with a negetive ease of about an inch / 2 cm. And so it happend I casted on 144 stitches which (lucky me) is divided by six easily. See the beautiful outcome of the decreases? I like!

p.s. I like that much, I spent a few minutes thinking I might keep the hat, even though I would never where a black hat nor one with a symbol on front, no matter how big of a fan I am

black is not nice!

2009-10-20T17:39:00.003+02:00

I actually wanted to name this post: "the inside of a hat" but now that I knitted already more than just the facing and got to knit more with the black yarn that's making the actual hat I only find that knitting with black yarn is not nice, you don't really see what you are doing! I'm glad I only knit stockinette otherwise I might have frogged it already. The yarn is merino and knits awesome, but I didn't expect it differently =^__^=

btw. This is going to be a Prince hat for a friend of mine, a few days ago I found this cap on craft magazine and this friend of mine was screaming that he wants one - in black with a golden symbol! I don't really use the pattern in the link above, I use a thinner yarn and of course thinner needles, I refinded the symbol chart (I found the original looked a bit . . . well unbalanced) and I'll make a sewn shut facing (techknitter made a wonderful tutorial about this one).

In case you wonder about my snailigan - it grows, I finished the second sleeve and although I only increased a total of 6 more stitches, it fits a lot better. Now I'm about to frog (aka rip out) the first sleeve and worry about pilling and of course re-knit the first sleeve.

_______________

ooh, and don't forget to get your copy of Betty Bat,
it's only free for one more day

merino heaven

2009-10-17T11:24:00.002+02:00

on wednesday I had a day off and the took the opportunity to make a trip to hamburgs yarn factory (Hamburger Wollfabrik). I wanted to buy a few yarns and colors to make some winter hats and mittens and also some gaiters to warm my feet. And beeing there I sort of forgot that yarn is money too and was like: "200g of that color, and 200g of that one over there - oooh that color is cute, it will match perfectly with this yarn. I'll take 400 g." - - all in all I came home with more that 2.5 kg!!!

Halloween Special

2009-10-13T07:05:00.005+02:00

and there it is, my little special something for this years Halloween:

Betty Bat

This pattern can be made within 3 hours and is a free download until the 21st october, so be quick and tell everyone you think might be interessted! Betty spreads 13 cm or about 5 inches when made with yarn that requires a 3.5 mm hook. You will also need 12 mm safety eyes, have a look at the 'how to paint safety eyes' tutorial here.

Hope you enjoy this little pattern and maybe you can send me a few pics of your finished Betty Bats.

~~and last but not least: The link to download~~
~~download now~~

sadly the week is over, but you can still get your copy of Betty Bat

USD 3.50

announcing a booo!

2009-10-07T19:08:00.002+02:00

it's still a secret but I am sure you will like it.
From october 13th 'til october 21st you can download my little halloween sepcial here for free!
It will match you're halloween decoration extremely well and you've seen it on this blog before. You can crochet it and it will take you only a few hours to make it.
so check it out.

-

boooo-ooooh

How to amigurumi - neat bind off

2009-10-04T12:44:00.007+02:00

it's been about time to make a new tutorial and this time it's about binding off, we already know how to start an amigurumi and how to add new colors or how to shape.

I will divide this post into two parts: first how to bind off open ends / open body parts, like arms or details like eyes and the second part will be on how to close the final hole of a doll.

bind off open ends:

when crocheting in spirals or in other words without joining every round and making a single crochet to reach the level for the next row there is a little "bump" at the very end of the row.

But this "bumpiness" can be hidden very easily. To hide the last stitch at "open" body parts such as ears or maybe arms and legs, and snouts that you often can find in one of my patterns you use a simple trick: a slip stitch that will not be drawn closed but sewn closed.

To end a row this way you make a slip stitch after you've made the last stitch that's required by the pattern.

Now pull the yarn through the slip stitch but don't pull the slip stitch tight yet, just cut the yarn (often it's good to cut it long enough so you can sew on the body part to the doll you just made) and thread the yarn end onto a darning needle. Now I "seam" the yarn end:

- insert the needle into the next stitch from the outside to the inside of your body part

- don't pull tight

- now lead the needle through the back loop of your slip stitch (from below up) and pull through

- pull the yarn end a little

- and now insert the needle into the stitch you used in the first step but this time from inside out

- pull the yarn tight (but don't too tight)

and that's it!

the slip stitch blends into the main fabric very smoothly and can't be recognized very easily.

binding off / closing final holes:

to close the final hole of a doll I use a slip stitch bind off as decribed above and add a few more steps:

- I use the yarn end to pull all the remaining stitches "inside" or better I force them to face each other: use the yarn and needle and insert the needle from the inside to the outside of every stitch around. This makes the stitches face each other and also helps securing the yarn end.

- an additional step is to thread your needle through the seam you just made to pull the hole of the doll closed completely:

______________

a general tip for securing yarn ends is to hide them inside your doll and secure them / knot them with other yarn ends.
I often use facing yarn ends to knot with each other (such as eyes) and hide both the knot and the yarn ends themselves inside the doll.

to frog or not to frog

2009-10-01T15:28:00.003+02:00

what a question. I'm thinking about frogging my first sleeve. It turned out tight, not too tight just a bit tight. It still gives in a lot and doesn't feel tight or anything I just don't feel very comfortable with how it looks when worn. I mean you can see the spaces between the knit stitches and that sort of bothers me.

I think I will start the second sleeve now and give it a few extra increases and than will check which I like better.

p.s. on sunday I will post a new amigurumi tutorial on how to bind off neatly. And I also plan a little Halloween special, so stay tuned =^__^=

snailigan & more Backnang

2009-09-27T11:32:00.005+02:00

above you can see what I brought home from Backnang, as you can see I didn't buy yarn, I bought buttons and I needed to be very very strong because at one stand there where knitting books there as well. Patterns and books are my kryptonite!

and below my progress on the snailigan. I almost finished the back, both front parts and one sleeve. All end below the underarm, because I now plan to knit my cardigan just like the tangled yoke cardigan from Eunny Jang. While sitting on the train home from Backnang Cleo suggested to add some tiny snails all around (where the tangled yoke cardigan has its celtic design) and I really like the idea although designing another snail that's even smaller than both other ones is a little tricky.

and last but not least I served myself some birthday style food today: sushi - nom, nom, nom

quick notion

2009-09-24T14:41:00.004+02:00

I have so much to tell and show you I don't know where to start. First of all, thanks to all of you who sent me birthday wishes, thanks for the emails, the short messages or calls and ecards!

hugs'n'kisses (100)

looks like ravelry? reminds me of something, the meeting in Backnang was awesome! I met so many nice people there and to finally add some faces to names is great too. When I signed in to the site today I found over 40 new messages, new friends, more birthday wishes and comments on my Sylvi Cardigan, (I needed to turn my back to people that often it surprised me that there still where people who didn't see it before, got plenty of compliments *blush*) I also got oohs and aaahs on the snailigan, which I will show you later.

When returning from Backnang a hardcore week of work was waiting for me; observing an experiment from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. resulted in no online time (which explains why I couldn't write this post until now), lack of sleep, and some knitting time between the single parts of the experiment. All in all my Snailigan grew quite abit. Writing this I realize how tired I am, so I will go to bed early today and tomorrow I can show you the progress on my Snailigan. (btw. I finally got the yarn and needles I've been waiting for so patiently)

For now I will leave you with some impressions from Backnang. When I arrived in the hotel there were two people knitting and then coming to the "Bürgerhaus" (the meeting place) there were knitters knittng everywhere, what a view!

what a difference a day makes

2009-09-11T16:02:00.006+02:00

or rather nine hours on the train on monday or (as it might seem to you) a few days more. On these nine hours on the train I made real good progress on my snailigan: I almost finsihed the whole colorwork snail pattern, only two rows of the snails tentacles are left.

the rest of the week was filled with congress sessions and too many speakers who spoke real bad english, I mean I don't blame anybody for not speaking a second language properly, but sometimes my ears just can't take any more bad grammar and mispronounciations. Anyway the congress is history and tomorrow morning I'm going to Backnang. Enjoy your weekend as well, as I'm sure I will =^__^=

pretty backside

2009-09-06T16:59:00.002+02:00

not mine, well it's nice =^_^= but not as nice as this:

I casted on the snailigan, as I tend to call it for now, my snail cardigan. I didn't plan to cast on but I don't have the needles that I still wait for yet and also I didn't want to carry around a project that needs much attention when traveling the next 8 days. But since the yarn for my Liesl didn't approach my door as well and I needed something to knit while beeing on the road I freed my (not yet finished) acorn scarf from its needles and started a new project. What I really admire is how my purling looks now and that I really got used to throw yarn, at the beginning that was what irritated me most but it feels quite natural now. And before you ask what the front side looks like:

have a wonderful week. I start my trip in munich tomorrow and go to Backnang on saturday for the big ravelry meeting - really looking forward this one.

a dark cloud on the horizon?

2009-09-01T15:57:00.002+02:00

I really hope not. I was just thinking and wondering if maybe, only maybe knitting something with snails might be the reason why I'm still waiting for my new knitting needles to arrive. I ordered them at the 21st last month and they were supposed to be shipped the very next day so I believe they already should be here - but they are not. Snails? Really snaily snail mail? ugh.
I'm also waiting for new yarn to arrive, I plan to knit a new Liesl on my train rides next week (going to a congress in munich and spending the following weekend at the first german raveler meeting, so excited!), I love that pattern and started one when my Sylvi was blocking but I used an acrylic yarn that would not handle the lacy pattern at all and so I put it away, I must show you a pic though (I still haven't frog that one) cause I think I never mentioned it here before. In case you like to know the colorway I ordered even before I get to see them: I'm waiting for a 100 % merino 10 ply to arrive. Same yarn I used for my Sylvi (it wears great, no pilling wonderful touch to the skin) and you can choose from app. 200 solid colors and even create your own yarn when mixing some solid strands into a thicker yarn. I mixed the ones below to create a warm reddish tone and a cooler green, so that makes two Liesls for me =^__^=

(I think I choose the upper red/yellow combination, because the one in the middle didn't had the yellow available at the moment, but both look pretty, hope they do too when they arrive here)

Oh and before I forget, a picture of my snail swatch blocked and dry, it's pretty huge but I'm glad it turned out a good size so I won't need to re-chart anything to fit my cardi design.

the biggest swatch I've ever made

2009-08-30T10:08:00.003+02:00

thanks for your input on my dilemma which design to choose. Seems like nearly everybody agrees on the middle one. I like that one too, so I will knit it =^__^=

Also I made a swatch, the third one actually, but this time I included colorwork. I knitted both bigger snail versions and right now I tend to the smaller shell (the one on the left). This snail looks a lot more elegant.

The swatch is still unwashed and even though I improved my color-knitting extremely while making it you still can see the different tensions between some stitches, I hope this evens out when the swatch is dryed.

If you look at the back of the swatch you see I used a method that weaves in the yarn while you knit it this way there's nothing to tangle. I really like the outcome and used a method that is described here. At first I had problems knitting the wrong side but I needed to find out how to purl it since I won't knit the cardigan in the round - but once I found out how to do it it was quite easy and came pretty naturally.

which one should I choose?

2009-08-28T20:02:00.004+02:00

Help please. I'm totally confused and get more and more confused the longer I try to think about this one. I said I was thinking about snails last time because of some gorgeous mittens. Well these snails circled my thoughts the whole day and this makes me think I will knit a snaily cardigan!

But now I have a problem, a serious one, one that's so typical for me, which version of my ideas shall I use? First the snails themselves. I created a smaller snail just like in the mittens (it's not the original pattern since I don't have the book they are in but I think I made a pretty good job in recharting them, even though I made some "error" in the neck area, but that doesn't bother me much) and then I charted a bigger version of the snail to go with the smaller one - and there is my problem, I don't know which bigger snail to use. They are only slightly different, I only made a little change to the shell but it's visible clearly. Which one do you like better? the left or the right one?

And then there is the arrangement on the back. I started with the idea on the left: all snail facing the outside of the cardigan. But then I thought why not make them face the center? and it makes a completely different effect, especially on graph paper. The outside facing verion looks alot wider whereas the center facing version seemed to create a thinner looking garment. And to make my confusion complete I made the snails face each other, looks good too! What I was surprised of was that the huge effect that there was on graph paper melted alot when I put the snails into a cardigan sketch to give me a clearer idea of what I was going to do. You see - confusion everywhere. Which would you make?

jus a side note: is it fair isle if it's working with 2 colors only and doesn't use the typical geometric repetitive style

creating something new

2009-08-27T19:47:00.002+02:00

is difficult.

I mentioned that I plan a new cardigan for myself. I got inspired when I saw an old episode of gilmore girls and Lorelai wearing a simple blue cardi that was tied up in the front instead of using a button. It had 3/4 sleeves - and that was what caught my attention - 3/4 sleeves are perfect for summer and it still doesn't seem like turning winter very soon so I figured I could need a new summer cardigan.

On first instinct I only knew 3/4 sleeves, simple button, low cleavage, not that low though (I have one storebought cardigan that my boobs always fall out off, and it's pretty annoying to always check the fit of your wardrobe)

Planing began - what would I like more than just 3/4 sleeves? something simple, a quick knit, maybe a bit lacy but still looking like stockinette at first glance and adding some embroidery after I finished, maybe some flowers or something similar. I started swatching but didn't like the base stitch I choose and thought why not stockinette? just because it's boring? no!, I'm a better kniter meanwhile, I will not stop a project just because the stitch doesn't keep my attention alive (like I used to when I was 15 years old) - mmmh, what else? maybe an interesting stitch inbetween? some cables? some lace columns? and I started thinking about adding a second color, a yellow, because blue and yellow go well together, so I thought striping, but making colored sketches made me see, that this is not what I want. I jumped into ravelry looking for ideas and came across fair isle - why not fair isle?

And there I am at the moment planing a fair isle cardigan, I still don't want the whole project to be fair isle, cause I know I'm still not that good of a knitter (something this big - especially with 3 mm needles - will stop me at some point). Right now I plan a fair isle waistband and maybe some snails that border it above. I always loved the snails you can find at the Norwegian Snail Mittens by Adrian Bizilia (both ravelry links) but knew I wouldn't actually make or wear them, but in a cardigan? I definitely would.

So far my plan until today, lets see what my mind works like when I receive the new sets of needle I ordered two days ago . . .

like snow - a FO

2009-08-24T18:39:00.004+02:00

in the last post I mentioned I finished the snow-white seahorse, well I did and here it is.

it came out great - greater than I expected when I started. It's a custom order and the wish was for white, I wanted to try a pale cream but of course the customers wish is my command =^__^=
All the way while crocheting it I was frightened I might dirty it, white is such a delicate color! (although I never dirtied any of my dolls, this one scared me in some way). Another thing I spent alot of time thinking about and trying out stuff were the eyes. I normally use a snowy white for the background of the pupil to create a nice eye but with a white seahorse? how would I make the eyes sort of pop out? In the end I choose a brown instead of a black for the pupil, which made the eyes softer and a cream to blend into the white of the seahorse itself. All in all I really like the outcome. Hope the customer does too!

only to show you I'm still here post

2009-08-18T20:22:00.004+02:00

do you remember this?

Ana asked me about the pattern for it, so here you go:

horn

1 - make a double ring with 5 sc
2 - m2, sc4
3 - sc1, m2, sc4
4 - sc1, m2 x2, sc2, sc2tog
5 - sc2, m2, sc5
6 - sc3, m2 x2, sc3, sc2tog (from now on the decreases will always cross the first stitch of the new/next round, don't worry, just start the new round after the decrease like nothing happend)
7 - sc3, m2, sc6
8 - sc4, m2 x2, sc4, sc2tog
9 - sc4, m2, sc7
10 - sc5, m2 x2, sc5, sc2tog
11 - sc5, m2, sc8
12 - sc6, m2 x2, sc6, sc2tog
13 - sc6, m2, sc9
14 - sc7, m2 x2, sc7, sc2tog
15 - sc7, m2, sc10
16 - sc8, m2 x2, sc8, sc2tog
17 - sc8, m2, sc11
(with a 3,5 mm hook my horn was about 6,5 cm long, there is a rhythm after row 8 that you can easily recognize and that allows you to elongate and enlarge the horn as wide as you like)

you might remember this beginning of a seahorse as well. I finally finished it, yay! pictures will follow in the next days.

I also started thinking about a new cardigan. I choose the blue silk/wool blend pictured here. I was first thinking about the golden yellow but prefer the blue now. It's a single ply and winding it into a ball I immediately saw it's not a good yarn to frog which means I cannot allow myself alot of trial and error with this cardigan. The issue is I only know that I want 3/4 sleeves and buttons. I want a back motif similar to Sylvie, but of course not Sylvie. And I have no idea about the cleavage - do I want one? a turtle neck? a low neckline? noooo idea!

________

before I forget, it would be cool to see what you make of the horn pattern, as I mentioned before I can imagine it in alot of different purposes like alien feet, bird beeks, tails?

fighting heat with lemons

2009-08-09T20:32:00.003+02:00

The last days have been incredibly hot and what did I do? standing in the heat of the kitchen baking a cake: a lemon cake
this is a very typical yet easy german cake aka kuchen

original recipe

and in english for all my internatinal friends

350 g butter
350 g sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla sugar
6 medium sized eggs
350 g all pupose flour
3 tsp baking powder
zest of two lemons

for the frosting:
250 g icing sugar
as much lemon juice as you need to make it smooth, texture shoud be like honey

how to:
mix soft butter and sugar until well blended, add eggs one by one and also zest of lemons.
in another bowl mix flour and baking powder and then mix with butter/sugar to make a soft dough.
spread onto baking sheet and bake at 180°C for 20 to 30 mins
in the meantime: mix icing sugar and lemon juice, spread onto finished cake.
set aside to let cool, enjoy!

I also read like mad in the last 10 days. couldn't put away Trudi Canavans BLACK MAGICIAN TRILOGY. The story itself was not very surprising, I actually got a bit angry in the middle of the second book because of one magician totally changing its personality. But it's all very well written, I wanted to know what happened and read more than 1.500 pages in a few days (I don't remember anytime I have read that much). I'm still a bit sad at how the story ended and that it ended although I finished reading on friday afternoon so I think all in all it's been a very good read (and it came in very handy that I had all book of the trilogy at hand - what's worse than a story you need to wait for more than a year to know how it continues? I don't want to be reminded of my Harry Potter time here =^__^=)

Hope you enjoyed the weekend and will have a good start into the new week too!

about flowers and butterflies

2009-07-30T12:05:00.003+02:00

I visited my home town on tuesday, picked up my brother and we both went to see the current garden exhibition. The exhibition area is huge and the organisators planed it very well, surrounding our beautiful castle. The castle was first built in 1160 and now presents its full beauty again after several years of restoration. It's been a great day with lots and lots of ladybugs, butterflies, flowers and castle pictures, but have a look yourself:

(click on the pictures to see them bigger)

in case you'ld like to see a few more pictures

feeling better

2009-07-27T21:25:00.003+02:00

a lot better, thank you all so much who thought of me, your wishes and even e-cards were helping alot to get healthy again.

I'm feeling that good I not only made words from letter cookies

I also started crocheting again, a snow white custom order seahorse. It's so white I am afraid to dirty it, eating cherries and plums and sauces of tomatoes all day - not a good combination =^__^=

feeling ill

2009-07-19T18:34:00.004+02:00

(source)

I'm ill and spent the weekend in bed with some lemony mint tea and tissues.
The blog still sleeps and dreams of new pictures of Draco and little piglets made from my critters pattern.

a plan is a plan is a plan

2009-07-12T18:57:00.004+02:00

you haven't heard of me in a while and that is simply because I have a lot to do that has not much to do with my crafting. This week I spent 3 days on the train traveling forth and back and forth and back once more, I read alot but didn't used any yarn. I almost finished my Schrecksenmeister and already found my favorite part of the whole book, it's when Fjodor asks Echo if he knew how far the stars are away from us, if they seem closer or farer away than the moon. And Echo answers "you mean the holes in the sky? They are made by the man in the moon who poked them into the sky with his moonneedle to let the sun shine through it because she's sleeping behind it" - isn't that the most adorable answer you ever heard?
The weather turned colder again, which is great, no honestly I don't like sweaty weather, the only not so nice thing was that me and a few friends had a BBQ planed for yesterday. But as the title of this post says 'a plan is a plan is a plan' so no matter the rain and wind we grilled. Below some of our bun-suns. I made tons of herbs butter and garlic butter and garlic cream cheese and tomato sauce and tzaziki and honey mustard.

summer heat

2009-07-01T20:14:00.004+02:00

this sticky warm weather is killing me, or better my craftiness. Even though the forcast mentioned rain for today there wasn't any, it only feels like there might be rain, which is even worse.
No crochet in the last two days, although I started on vampire hair on monday which needs to be unraveled since I won't have enough space for eyes, so no picture today.

How do you like Dracos? is it an appropriate name for a [cute] vampire?

And today I had my first driving lesson in eleven years. Sooner or later I will have an official car and I haven't sit behind a wheel ever since I made my drivers license so I thought I need a few lessons to get me back on the road. - It was okay, I feared it will be a disaster but it wasn't - actually I think I drove pretty good.

And due to the weather all I do now is drinking cold drinks on the couch and enjoying the evening.

how ironic!

2009-06-28T20:15:00.005+02:00

yesterday I made good progress on my vampire doll. and then I made garlic butter!

so far the two get along well - and me and vampire (I don't have a name yet) get along too, I think I'm not too smelly =^__^= or maybe its nose does not function that good?

(the body is alot smaller than my normal doll bodies and the head is a bit bigger and also has a new shape. And I decided on a nose too, think it's kind of cute)

______

now that I look at the pictures this body can also work as a star trek mr. Spok doll. So far I only found the shape of the head reminds me of doozers, you know the little 'construction workers' from the fraggles.

nose-y

2009-06-25T20:20:00.002+02:00

just a small cute post before I go to bed. I tried noses for my vampire-gurumi today. And I also tried a new head shape. I like the shape of the head alot (gives enough space for eyes and hair and other details) and I prefer the second nose below (the left one above) although it is positioned too far below here, but it was just a test to see how to shape it. The only problem is I prefer the look of the nose (both noses actually) "the other way round", which means for me that this will be a doll that I start at the butt instead of the top of its head.

sporty!?

2009-06-24T17:26:00.004+02:00

I planed to write this post about how sporty I am (cough-cough), now that I have new shoes. But the first session at the health club turned out to be talking only and get to know everything there. I liked what I saw and decided to do more sports month ago so I signed and now all I have to feel sporty about is the 11,2 km I walked yesterday while shopping. Yes more than 11 kilometers! My mobile counts every step I take so know exactly and it said 14.559 steps.

and for the rest of this day I plan to make this circle into a vampire doll. I made some sketches for a vampire a few weeks ago and now believe I could write together a "halloween pattern" that would include my Betti Bats, this vampire (that might have a nose) and a small itsy, bitsy spider.