Baby top - CIRKA. . .

Sikke en fin opskrift CIRKA toppen er. Den slags man får lyst til at lave bunkevis af - i alle mulige støvede pasteller. 

Liselotte - der har lavet opskriften - har strikket sin CIRKA op i uld.
Jeg ville prøve bomuld og fandt et par grålige bundter fra Søstrene Grene frem fra gemmerne. (Uanset hvilket mærke bomuldsgarn jeg strikker i, så trækker garnet altid til den ene side. Jeg har tit undret mig over hvorfor det er sådan?)

I stedet for at lave hulmønster valgte jeg - denne gang - at lave små prikker i form af enkelte vrangmasker forskudt for hinanden.

Det er et dejligt strikketøj. Det passer lige til en fodboldkamp hvor opmærksomheden kontinuerligt farer fra strikkepinde til skærm...og tilbage igen.

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What a fine recipe the CIRKA top is. The kind you feel like making piles of - in all sorts of dusty pastels.

Liselotte - who has made the recipe - has knitted her CIRKA in wool.
I wanted to try out cotton, so I found a couple of greyish skeins from Søstrene Grene from my stash. (No matter which brand of cotton yarn I knit in, the knitted piece always tends to get pulled to one side. I have often wondered why?)

In stead of knitting a hole pattern, I chose to make little dots in purl stitches displaced over each other.

It's a wonderful knitting. Just perfect for a soccer game where one's attention continuously goes from knitting needles to TV...and back again.

Amio favourites

I must admit that I often turn to etsy when I need something special. Whether it's jewlery, craft supplies, paper items or patterns.

I always tend to forget that we have our Danish Amio as an option.
Of course Amio doesn't have the amount of items as etsy, nor does it represent a vast variety of artists from all over the world. But nevertheless it's very possible to find exiting and beautiful things handmade by talented people.

A few of the favourits below have been on my wishlist for quite some time - maybe you have a bunch of favourites on Amio too?

This beautiful, beautiful dress made by Lis from Karlssons Kludeskab was one of the very first things I loved on Amio. I had better let you know that the dress has already been sold, but that doesn't keep me from dreaming about it - even though it was made for children.

Photo from Karlssons Kludeskab on Amio

The necklace has been in and out of my virtual shopping basket in Fragment Jewls more than once. I was immediately tempted by the lovely colours and different shapes. It's simple in a gorgeous way. But my common sense tapped on my shoulder time after time........until today - so now the necklace is on it's way.

Photo from Fragment Jewls on Amio.dk

The fluffy look and the choice of colours, were the reasons why I faved this lovely hair clip from LisBethlys. It will probably be too much for my short hair, which is every which way (purposely I might add!), but I could easily see it in Anne-Sophie's beautiful long hair.

I will have to show it to her on the computer the next time she comes home.

Photo from LisBethlys on Amio.dk

Finally I must show you this wonderful baby blanket from Butik Pilphinger. I love that it has a bit of another style from the blankets we normally see for babies. It's not so cutie pie like.
The printed insects are just fabulous...

Book-elicious

I don't think that I have ever looked more forward to this autumn's and winter's new books, than I do in 2011/2012. So many talented people have been busy making books for the rest of us to enjoy - and of course to learn and get inspired from.

Many of you probably already know this fantastic woman from her blog Tusindfryd.
Wenche Steensen is going to release her new book about making dolls. She makes the most wonderful custom made Waldorf dolls for children, and following her blog is a magical thing.
 As far as I can tell from the online bookshops, it will be here some time in the beginning of 2012.
I can't wait to see her work and all the many ideas on making dolls.

Another woman whom I admire so deeply - both as an artist and as a person - is my blog friend Cathy Gaubert. Maybe her name rings a bell since I have written about her several times before. Her embroidery patterns are some of my all time favourites.

Cathy is making a book too. A book about patchwork doll quilts - a thing she does so brilliantly herself. Oh, how I love the work from her hands and head!
The book is called Pretty in patchwork - doll quilts and contains different doll quilts from several talented women.

My sweet American blogger friend Amy is actually going to be in 2 books this autumn. She has quilting blocks in the book Modern Blocks and you can definitely look forward to seing her work. She's really talented and makes all her things with such dedication.
The book will be in the stores by October 2011.

And she has things in the book Zakka Style, which has contributions from different crafters. This one will be available in December, so there's a clear cut idea for a Christmas present.

Finally, I know that I will love the first book from brilliant Fiona Dalton. Her patterns - which I have bought and sewn this bunny from - are simply genius and the expression on each animal she makes is so good.

Her book is called Hop, skip, jump - the same as her blog. The book will be in stores about the end of October 2011.

So with all these fabulous books coming, there's one good reason for summer to end a bit faster - eventhough I don't really want it to end at all!

My intensions were good...

When we packed our bags to go on holiday, I also prepared a fabric tote and a plastic bag with items for all the crafting I was going to do in the cottage we rented at the North Sea.

I brought linen, embroidery floss, cotton yarn, the 2 new embroidery kits I recently bought, more yarn, hooks to match the yarn, a pair of scissors, large pieces of extra thick carton and 2 different knitting books.

As usual my husband laughed at me when he picked up my stuff, and put it in our car.

But I knew that I would get to make loads of things from all my supplies, so I didn't mind him laughing...

However...

The things you see in the photo, are what I got around to making in the 7 days we were there! 3 lousy attempts at crocheting cirlces and a tiny pile of carton hexagons for a patchwork blanket.

Never before have I made ​​so little handwork during a holiday...I wonder what happened?

Well, I know the answer to that question myself. I simply enjoyed being with my family  (I always do that!)  playing, talking, bathing and all the other lovely things you make with your loved ones, when everyday life has been put on standby for a while.

And I loved it - SO much.

Hm...hm...

Done... #2, originally uploaded by lille-ursus.

I know I promised not to write any more about the baby blanket! But since Marie-Louise kindly asked wheter she could see the whole quilt, then I couldn't turn her down.

So here you are, Marie-Louise... :)

 My first and very bumpy quilt (which probably ends up with a bunch of untied quilting threads!) But I sure loved making it - well, most of the time.

The binding...

The binding, originally uploaded by lille-ursus.

...is now being finished. FINALLY!!

And then I promise not to write about this particular quilt anymore.
Hopefully new and funny projects will take it's place in the future - I already have some waiting for me:

The little baby girl niece - who has no name yet - has a bigsister too. And of course she needs to get something as well. Becoming a bigsister is a great thing, but I guess that it can be a bit tricky at times with all that fuss a new baby brings. So I want to make her something she can play with - or should I say in.

She loves dresses and princess stuff, so I have planned to make her a princess dress from this wonderful book. It's written by Lenée Grue and Line Watt, and the dresses are made from vintage fabrics. A fabulous idea.

If I have the time, I have thought of making a pillow for her new room. With this embroidery on it:

From Nicole's shop

 

It's a pattern made by Nicole from Follow the white bunny. Just perfect for little Sara, I think.

Bring on the girly stuff...

Now my desire to knit and sew things for little girls can be fulfilled. It turned out to be a niece that was born this Monday.

The quilt, however, is still not done - but I'm definitely getiing there. Fast....

Not so many loose hexagons...

...all over the place anymore! Because now I have sewn a lot of them together. Contrary to my expectations this part is even funny too, and it's a satisfaction to see the blanket grow bigger and bigger. My hopes are continuously positive...

Remember the little owls on the photo? Or didn't I write about them at all? No, I guess that it was the owl pattern from Fluff & Fuzz now that I come to think of it (or rather: after I have searched through my old blog posts). 

However, I came across these two little fellows when I sorted out some of my papirs. I have had this particular pattern for a long time now, and I just couldn't put it away - because I adore them badly. Having the picture of the owls in front of me while I sew, makes me smile....

Have a lovely Sunday each and every one.

More time is needed!!

I'm doing my very best on the baby quilt and I do see more and more hexagons being added to the white piece of cardboard. All the little parts are on that cardboard so I can move it around, and futhermore it tells me how long I have left. The hexagons have to reach the borders of the cardboard - then I know that I have enough.

Time is definitely not on my side in this project. I still have to sew all the hexagons together, do the quilting and the binding before October the 18th!! But I keeping working as much as my back and neck allow me to...

I have decided that the back of the blanket is going to be made in the Gingham fabric in grey and white. Like in the top.

What I'm going to do about the quilting is a whole different story - that is still not clear to me...

I have finally started!!

And here is the proof.

If you ask me, then there are lots of hexagons in that little pile. But actually there are not many - and certainly not enough!

I have really had my doubts about which fabrics to use, since I don't know whether the blanket is going to be for a boy or a girl.

But at least I have decided to have a plain fabric - a bright grey linen -among the many printed ones, in order to make the blanket look a bit organized.

The puzzle effect amuses me and I have moved the present hexagons around several times already. But I will have to cut and sew all of the pieces before making the final position of the hexagons.