a month in pictures - December 2012

another month went by so quickly ..

1. 8 o’clock: am .. making my bed and starting to decorate the house

2. Peace: is making cookies ^__^ .. looking at them now I want some but alredy ate all, I guess I have to bake a new box full

3. Something you held: well, more cookie love

4. Black + white: some of my wall decoration

5. Looking up: I saw the clear blue sky, what a beaut!

6. From where you live/your country: I didn't feel all well that day (had terribly swollen eyes) and went to see the doctor, at my doctors office there was this picture showing the Brandenburger Tor, which stands right in the middle of Berlin, which is where I live and also happens to be the capital of Germany, (which you all knew, I'm sure)

7. Stars: do you remember these?

8. Someone you love: Teddy loves his new friend ^__^

9. Out + about: it's been a lazy Sunday and obviously I can't count..

10. Under: the snow ...

11. Sweet: Am I not SWEET?

12. Hat: the one above is my "let's celebrate the season when I'm at work" hat - this is my actual winter hat, I love it!!

13. Lights: coming home late from work this is my regular view, city lights in the darkness

14. Something green: ^__^

15. Outdoors: the snow started melting again but in the backyard you could still the neighbours cat was there

16. Something you made: or rather that I'm making at that moment, a new cowl, it's winter and it's cold outside

17. On the floor: packing my bags once more

18. Makes you feel merry: a good decoration .. picture was taken in Potsdam at Cecilienhof

19. Something beginning with ‘s’: being in Potsdam I had to go to Sans Souccie as well, it's such a nice castle

20. Weather: I love when the melting snow starts to reveal the nature below

21. Tree: at my parents house, I went home for Christmas as you know

22. Decoration: my mom loves these nutcrackers (in the shelve below there is an army of them .. a little frightening if ask me

23. Joy is______: memories from childhood times

24. Tradition/something you always do: have some delicious food, mom's such a good cook and watching Scrooged with Bill Murray, I just love this movie

25. Lunchtime: already on the way home again I only had an orange and took a picture of the landscape (can you believe we had 20°C this Christmas? I can't think of any Christmas this warm!)

26. Mess: I've cleaned the day before '_' and therefore made a picture of my "messy" knitting

27. How you relax: with crochet and knitting on the couch

28. Cold: it's still winter after all and I finished my cowl yay! it's based on the laminaria design and I will post something more detailed on it soon

29. Hot: it's getting hot in here, if you light a candle

30. Something that made you smile this year: there were quite a few things .. some are pictured below

31. Self-portrait: because I'm cool like that I took a picture of myself with my rollers, yay!

this year was full of joy and I hope yours were too!

have a happy new year, spend it like you wish, enjoy every second of it!
let's welcome 2013!


oh, do you have New Year's resolutions? ... I found the #mileaday challenge on instagram and want to do this in 2013. Other than that I just want to be happy ^__^

see you next year, Diana

Crochet? really?

in between all the Holiday Joy, eating and knitting on the couch I just realized one thing: is it just me or does crochet become quite popular lately? I mean, like hip-popular? I remember a few year ago, not many, when I rarely read about crochet elsewhere, when posting something on ravelry and asking for crochet help it took "ages" to get an answer, when people only felt like real crafters 'cause they knitted...

and it happens to me too!
In case you should be one of the two people who follow me from the very very beginning (which was like 2007) you know that I never found crochet to be cool, because I was thinking that way too, that crochet would mean lace doilies that my grandma used to make. I learned how to do that in school and still have one of my window hanging decorations somewhere in a box and quite liked it but I never figured that would be something I could actually use for something. Crochet wasn't a craft I looked into until I found myself in making amigurumi.

But lately there is something happening to me, I want to make granny squares! whaaaa! Maybe two years ago I saw a pillow case made from all grey granny squares which looked very pretty. It also showed a picture of a pillow case that used white granny squares and a single "row" of red squares. Very very pretty. I think that sowed the seeds. Lately I'm seeing granny squares everywhere and they scream at me to turn them into an afghan, a gigantic afghan for my couch... I think it won't take long until I actually start ...

a little panicky to see the next year, I mean, HOW heavy must a full size granny square afghan be?,
take care, Diana

Merry Christmas

I found this little video and want to share for Christmas, I know it's the nerd in me speaking but, hey it's Christmas nonetheless ^__^

so cute ^__^ wish you all the best of times, celebrate the season!

____

p.s. the coupon code thingi still works until the 26th of this month

December 22nd

hohoho

obviously blogging with my phone doesn't work as properly as I thought and since I'm at my parents house during the holidays (which I didn't plan at the beginning of the month) and continuing my advent calendar is become a little challenge now I thought about possibilities to get it running but without weird blog posts from my phone.

that's why I came up with a little coupon code thingi. If you buy two of my patterns over at my ravelry store and use the code: hohoho; you will only pay for one and get the other one for free.

You can use the coupon more than once, so if you want to buy four you will get two of them free

I do hope you enjoy this little gift

I also hope you enjoy the holidays, spend it with good friends and family, maybe some delicious food and even some snow

happy holidays,
hohoho, Diana ____

store: mygurumi
code: hohoho
valid until December 26th

December 21st

"Chris Rea : Driving Home For Christmas" auf YouTube ansehen!

So let's see if this works ... I'm on the way to my parents house for the holidays and thought this song just fits perfectly!

If you travel as well during the holidays drive carefully and take care :)

December 20th

I'm not my usual self today. It's amazing how men can totally change the way you feel within just a single second...

Anyways since I'm a little confused today and also need to do some housework done and my bags packed (I'm going to see my parents for a few days tomorrow) I am going to share some serious cookie love today:

Christmas Sugar Cookies from baking bites

Red Velvet Snowball Cookies from baking bites as well

Chocolate hazelnut biscotti from smittenkitchen

gingerbread houses for your coffee by Tortenwelt
(article is in german and links to notmartha.com)

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies from baking bites

please click the pictures for the original recipies!

♥cookies♥
Diana

December 19th

last weekend I was thinking about my favorite fairy tale and came to realize it contains some important knitting. Which was kind of a surprise to me, because this never occurred to me before.
I love fairy tales in the winter time, I just find they belong. I actually have a little library for fairy tale books only. Brothers Grimm, Hauff, Epstein, Anderson, they're all there.
This particular always melted my heart. "The six swans" is not one of the most famous collected by the Brothers Grimm and it resembles "the twelve brothers" or "the seven raven" but it's unique in its own way. I always

in case you want to read it again now:

here you can find the original text in english

and here is the original text in german

I even found the animated cartoon: (it's in german but I think it's beautiful to look at nonetheless and easy to understand as well)

part one

part two

what is your favorite fairy tale?
dreamy hugs, Diana

December 18th

traditionally on Christmas Eve we eat something very simple.
I know a lot of families where they will eat potato salad and sausages on Christmas Eve but my mum always made lentil soup. I love this. It's one of my favorite soups in life, I can say this without a doubt.
And my mums soup is the only I eat because it's made without carrots, I do not like cooked carrots, I find them too soft and too sweet when cooked {shudder}

and today every single time I eat this soup it warms my heart, I guess it's my personal soul food.

mums lentil soup

500g lentils (preferably some that don't need to soak - I like pardina lentils)
7-8 potatoes
500g pork sausage
salt
vinegar essence and sugar to taste (about 4-6 tbsp)

fill lentils into a large pot, add water about the double amount as lentils. Cut sausage into pieces and add to the lentils. Also cut and add the potatoes. Boil without salt (!) until lentils are soft.
when the lentils are soft add 1/2 tsp salt and 3 tbsp vinegar and 3 tbsp sugar. This soup will be sweet/sour so son't be afraid of the sugar/vinegar. Cook for 20 more minutes and add sugar and vinegar to taste.
that's it - when I first made it I was surprised that this little ingredients would make the soup I love ... but isn't often less better?

hungry hugs,
Diana

December 17th

it's ornament Monday ^__^

today I share the classic gingerbread man.
mine are un-decorated, I wanted mine to be simple and plain, but of course you can decorate yours to your taste, I always see the little gingerbread man from Shrek whenever I think about gingerbread men.

/

Gingerbread man ornament

1__ make a dr with 6 sc
2__ m2 x6
3__ sc2, m2 x3, sc3, m2 x3, sc1
4__ sc4, m2, sc1, m2, sc6, m2, sc1, m2, sc2
5__ sc6, m2, sc10, m2, sc4
6-8__ sc24
9__ sc7, sc2tog, sc10, sc2tog, sc3
10__ sc5, sc2tog, sc1, sc2tog, sc6, sc2tog, sc1, sc2tog, sc1
11__ sc4, sc2tog x3, sc3, sc2tog x3 (last decrease will cross the marker, just replace the marker and continue with the next round
12__ (sc3, sc3tog) x2
13__ sc8
14__ sc4, chain9, sc8 starting in 2nd chain from hook, jump back onto main part / head and continue the round: sc4 and chain9 again, sc8 starting in 2nd chain from hook and continue to work in a spiral, we don't turn anywhere
15__ sc11, m2, sc1(this is the "turning" stitch and can be a little tricky to poke through, a second hook helps a lot to get the new loop/stitch), m2, sc18, m2, sc1 (again the turning stitch), m2, sc7
16__ sc12, m2, sc1, m2, sc20, m2, sc1, m2, sc8
17__ m2, sc2, m2, sc21, m2, sc2, m2, sc21
18__ m2, sc4, m2, sc8, sc2tog, sc1, sc2tog, sc8, m2, sc4, m2, sc9, sc2tog, sc1, sc2tog, sc7
19__ sc15, sc2tog, sc2, sc2tog, sc21, sc2tog, sc2, sc2tog, sc6
20__ sc9, chain1, sc9, chain1 skip 16
21__ (sc9, m2) x2
22__ sc22
23__ (sc10, m2) x2
24__ sc17, chain 2, skip 7 before M amd 5 after M, start 1st leg

first leg
25__ sc12, for next two sc only use one loop of the chain sts (other half will be used on second leg)
26-30__ sc14
31__ sc7, sc2tog, sc5
32__ sc2tog x7 (! last deccrease will cross marker)
BO with slip stitch

2nd leg
25__ start at base of 1st leg : sc12, make next sc2 into other halves of chain from the first leg
26-30__ sc14
31__ sc7, sc2tog, sc5
32__ sc2tog x7 (! last deccrease will cross marker)
BO with slip stitch

in case you have little holes between the legs, sew them closed with the yarn ends from the feet.

now stuff a little (gingerbread man should stay kind of flat) and sew the arms closed, !!! using a new piece of yarn for each arm !!! hide yarn ends

> stuff legs and head
> sew one arm closed
> stuff closed arm and belly
> start sewing other arm
> stuff arm and continue sewing arm closed

now embellish if you wish and enjoy!

♥ Diana

December 16th

it's cookie sunday

these are freaking amazing!!

The first time I made these I was like 'what? no chopping??' but that's what really make them so great: every bite is different! almond cookie, chocolate cookie, cherry cookie, cereal cookie - whatever you like these have it!

comatose chocolate cookie

1 cup peeled almonds
400 g chopped dark chocolate
1 cup dried cherries
2 cups oat flakes
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sodium bicarbonate (natron)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 lb butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

preheat oven to 180°C.
roast almond in a pan until just starting to get light brown.
mix chopped chocolate, cherries, oat flakes in a large bowl, add flour soda and natron, mix again.
add (cooled) almonds.
in a separate bowl cream butter with eggs and vanilla extract, then mix with ingredients in the large bowl. Form cookies (spoon) and place them not to closed to each other on a baking sheet.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until light brown.

enjoy!
crumbly hugs, Diana

December 15th

how do you fill cold dark winter days?

I like to light some candles, have a hot chocolate, watch a good movie and knit.
Yesterday night I cast on the famous Laminaria. I want to turn it into a cowl, sort of. I want it to drape and fall like the shawl but without fuzzing around with a shawl ends, that's why I'm knitting in the round. So far I re-started a few times to sort out the star stitch pattern for knitting in the round, but right now I really like it and maybe I'm even able to finish it this year.

is there a shawl you particularly like for winter knitting AND winter wear?

knitting hugs, Diana

December 14th

Do you still wonder what my mystery crochet was? it is a cupcake with lots of cream on top ^__^
cream makes every dessert a little Christmas dessert!

this is my version:

and the version of two of the beginners:

I really like how they turned out, without any picture to go by these two lovely ladies made some perfect little cupcakes!!!

I already contacted all three winners and started to send out their pattern, I hope they enjoy them and probably even make some cute Christmas gifts from them.

have a lovely weekend, don't forget Cookie-Sunday ^__^
Diana