I might need...

...some new books. Yesterday I had a look at several book shops, and there were so many new and interesting books which will become available in near future.

The one which made me the most happy, was the one below.

Photo from Renaud-Bray.com

Wenche's book about making dolls TUSINDFRYD DUKKER, is about to be released in French - POUPÉES CHIFFON is the French title. That's so wonderful for sweet Wenche - I really hope her book will be available for even more people.

Photo from Decitre.fr

I have a crush on sweaters knitted with short rows. The shape is flattering and beautiful, and working on a knit using that technique is always fun. So the book above looked like something I would like. It's called MON GILET PRÉFÉRÉ is written by Naoko Shimoda, and translated into French by Marie Maurin.

Photo from Letempsapprivvoise.fr

Even though I have a dog, I'm still a big fan of cats and that's exactly the theme for the next book. 

LES CHATS AU POINT DE CROIX is about cats made with X-stitches. No one makes X-stitch books like the French or the Japanese people, in my opinion. So this book is absolutly a good bet for a future book in my bookshelf.

Photo from Amazon.co.uk

Finally I came across COUTURE ORIGAMI by Céline Girardeau. What a great idea to combine sewing clothes with origami! I'm very excited to see more about the topic, and I wonder whether the patterns will look as elegant through all of the pages, or whether I think that it becomes a bit too much with the origami. The patterns are to be made from 2 years to 12 years.

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...nogle nye bøger. I går kiggede jeg på forskellige bog shops, og der var så mange nye og interessante bøger, der bliver tilgængelige i den nærmeste fremtid.

Den der gjorde mig allermest glad, var den herunder.

Wenches bog om at lave dukker TUSINDFRYD DUKKER bliver mest snart udgivet på fransk. POUPÉES CHIFFON er den franske titel. Det er bare dejligt for søde Wenche - jeg håber at virkelig at mange flere får glæde af hendes bog.

Jeg har et blødt hjerte for trøjer strikket med vendestrik. Formen er flatterende og smuk, og at strikke med den teknik er altid sjovt. Så bogen ovenfor så ud som noget jeg vil kunne lide. Den hedder MON GILET PRÉFÉRÉ er skrevet af Naoko Shimoda og overst til fransk af Marie Maurin.

Selvom jeg har en hund, kan jeg nu stadig godt lide katte, og netop det er temaet i denne bog. LES CHATS AU POINT DE CROIX handler om katte syet i korssting. Ingen laver, efter min mening, korsstings bøger som franskmændene og japanerne. Så denne bog er absolut et godt bud på en kommende bog in min bogreol.

Endelig stødte jeg på COUTURE ORIGAMI af Céline Girardeau. Sikke en god idé at kombinere syning af tøj og origami. Jeg er meget spændt på at se mere om emnet, Og jeg er spændt på at se, om mønstrene vil være lige så elegante gennem hele bogen, eller om jeg synes det bliver for meget meget origami delen. Mønstrene kan laves fra størrelse 2 år til 12 år.

MY DAILY JUNK is a lovely shop!

If you feel the need for lovely stuff, then you just have to follow the way to Wenche's new beautiful shop. It's called My Daily Junk and is owned by Wenche whom you might know from the blog Tusindfryd. She's also the talented dollmaker behind the book Tusindfryd dukker.

She is amazing at finding cool items, which can make your day even more colourful and happy. and there is even a gorgeous DIY kit for making a little Waldorf doll.

Be prepared to get tempted when you enter the shop. I have already bought stickers and other lovely things which I can't live without...

Photo from My Daily Junk's website

Hvis du føler trang til skønne ting, så skal du bare følge vejen til Wenches nye fine butik. Den hedder My Daily Junk og er ejet af Wenche, som du måske allerede kender fra bloggen Tusindfryd. Hun er også den talentfuld dukkemager bag bogen Tusindfryds dukker.

Hun er utrolig god til at finde seje ting som kan gøre din dag endnu mere farverig og glad. Og der er endda et superfint gør det selv kit, så man kan lave en lille Waldorf dukke.

Vær forberedt på at blive fristet når du "træder ind" i butikken. Jeg har allerede købt stickers og andre skønne ting som jeg ikke kan være foruden...

Spring inspiration

2 beautiful books came in a flat envelope today - from Århus. I thought that I had ordered them in 

Copenhagen, but instead it was from Tøndering Strik. A gorgeous shop.

I must be getting older, since I can't remember things like that or perhaps my mind is too preoccupied at the moment. I almost know that it's the latter...

The first book is a funny little one - the kind which I adore. Strikkede striber forår. 

It's inspiring to see how the 2 authors think of knitting in another way, and that it doesn't has to be about making clothes when you knit.

Maybe you remember a book with a similar title, which I mentioned last autumn. It's the same 2 women who have written this new book about more stripes.

Strikkede striber forår

Strikkede striber forår

Nordiske Masker 2 was the other one of the knitting books. I absolutely love the colour scheme which has been used for the models in this book.

Nordiske Masker 2 Lone Gissel og Tine Rousing

Nordiske Masker 2 Lone Gissel og Tine Rousing

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2 smukke bøger kom i en flad hvid konvolut i dag - fra Århus. Jeg troede at jeg havde bestilt dem i København, men i stedet for var det hos Tøndering Strik i Århus. En fantastisk butik.

Jeg må være ved at blive gammel, siden jeg ikke kan huske den slags ting, eller også er min hjerne bare optaget af andre ting i øjeblikket. Jeg ved næsten at det skyldes det sidstnævnte.

Den første bog er en sjov lille en - den slags jeg holder af. Strikkede striber forår.

Det er inspirerende at se hvordan de to forfattere tænker på dét at strikke på en anderledes måde, og at det ikke nødvendigvis behøver at handle om tøj når man strikker.

Måske kan du huske, at jeg nævnte en bog med en lignende titel i efteråret. Det er de samme 2 kvinder der har skrevet denne nye bog om striber.

Nordiske Masker 2 var den anden af strikkebøgerne. Jeg elsker simpelthen farveskemaet der er brugt til modellerne i denne bog.

A big hooray from a nightowl

Photo from Lindhart and Ringhof

Very late the other night, you would have heard me shouting yes in an entusiastic and happy way. A strange way to act in the middle of the night you might think - but maybe you will see why, when you hear that I won the most wonderful book.

Rakel at bare wunderbar had the pleasure of giving away 5 copies of this book - Liv og glade dage by Nicoline Olsen.

How lucky I were to win the book - it was already on my wishlist...at least for a little while. Thank you so much, Rakel.

And speaking of books, I just ordered Lene Holme Samsøe's new book Suveræn strik. I have been waiting for that one. Somehow she tends to inspire so many knitters in Denmark, every time she has been working on more fantastic knit designs. So I have my hopes up for this book too.

Photo from Lindhardt and Ringhof

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Et stort hurra fra en natteravn

Meget sent forleden nat, ville du have kunnet høre mig råbe et entutiastisk og glad yes. Du tænker måske at det var en underlig måde at reagere på midt om natten, men måske forstår du når du hører at det var fordi jeg vandt den mest fantastiske bog.

Rakel fra bloggen bare wunderbar havde fået fornøjelsen af at kunne give 5 stk. af denne bog væk - Liv og glade dage af Nicoline Olsen.

Hvor var jeg heldig at vinde at bogen...den stod allerede på min ønskeddel...i en lille stund. Tusind tak, Rakel.

Apropos bøger, så har jeg netop bestilt Lene holme Samsøes nye bog Suveræn strik. den har jeg virkelig ventet på. Hun formår altid at inspirere så mange danske strikkere, hver gang hun har arbejdet på flere fantastiske strik designs. Så jeg har viekwlig positive forventninger til denne bog også.

My favourite calendar

Today is the day when the calendar I love the most, is - finally - for sale.

For years and years I have bought the calendar made by Skals - skolen for design og og håndarbejde. Always excited to see which beautiful ideas the school has come up with for the coming year.

Each month represents a piece of craft or maybe some food related to the school. And the fact that you find recipes in the back of the calendar, makes it all even more lovely.

This is a photo of November from the 2012 calender, because I haven't been to town to buy my 2013 one yet. I keep it in my kitchen in a place where the fine photo of the month meets my eyes many times during a day. Often, I flick through the pages of the calendar, and refresh the ideas.

If you would like to get one for yourself, you can buy it at the school, at the online shop Sommerfuglen and in many shops in Viborg.

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I dag er dagen, hvor min absolutte yndlings kalender - endelig - kommer til salg.

I årevis har jeg købt kalenderen lavet af Skals - skolen for design og håndarbejde. Altid spændt på at se hvilke smukke idéer de har fundet på til det kommende år. 

Hver måned indeholder et stykke håndarbejde eller noget mad der har relation til skolen. Og dét at du kan finde opskrifter på det bagerst i kalenderen, gør den bare endnu mere skøn.

Ovenover er et billede af november fra 2012 udgaven, for jeg har endnu ikke været i byen for at købe mit 2013 eksemplar. Min kalender hænger i mit køkken på et sted, hvor månedens fine foto fanges af mine øjne mange gange i løbet af en dag. Ikke så sjældent bladrer jeg gennem kalenderens sider og genopfrisker årets idéer.

Hvis du gerne selv vil have dig et eksemplar, kan du bl.a. købe det på skolen, hos online butikken Sommerfuglen og i mange forretninger i Viborg.

Hurra for Betty P's vidunderlige neon tråde

For et stykke tid siden begyndte jeg på et lille broderi. 

Jeg syer med den smukke koral farvede neontråd fra Betty P. Fra jeg så neontrådene for første gang, har de indbudt til at blive omsat til små broderisting.

At jeg købte alle de 5 ruller tråd i neon nuancer har jeg ikke fortrudt et sekund. Adskillige projekter har fået tilføjet et lille neon pift, og det er simpelthen en fornøjelse at arbejde med de livlige farver og den stærke tråd.

Neon embroidery on a new tunic for me, a photo by lille-ursus on Flickr.

Jeg laver bogstaver på en tunika jeg syede til mig selv i sensommeren. Den er lavet i en let chambrey i grå. Jeg holder meget af den slags stof, da det ikke blot er én stor flade af en bestemt farve, men derimod et virvar af grå tråde på kryds og på tværs.

Hvad jeg skriver med neon er ikke til at vide...forhåbentlig dukker det op inden længe.

C e n t i L o n g

E n g l i s h - b e l o w 

Jeg har klippet og klisteret på det seneste. De smukke mønstre fra CentiLongs nye e-bog skulle samles, så jeg endelig kan komme i gang med de fine modeller.

CentiLong består af Christina fra Rappedikke og Lis fra Karlsons Kludeskab. Begge vanvittigt talentfulde og dygtige kvinder udi håndarbejdets verden. Jeg ynder også at følge deres ord og billeder om livet i det hele taget og føler mig stort set altid inspireret og ikke mindst menneskeligt beriget.

Jeg ved jeg har nævnt det før, men jeg holder ufatteligt meget af mønstre som er enkle og elegante, og som alligevel har helt deres eget cool udtryk. Det formår CentiLongs modeller. Med skønne flæser og små detaljer.
Mønstrene kan laves i str. 1, 2 og 3 år og hvor er jeg - endnu en gang - glad for at vores lille niece Agnes kan agere aftager til tøj i mini størrelse...

E n g l i s h

Lately I have been cutting and pasting. The beautiful patterns from CentiLong's new e-book had to be put together, so I finally can start sewing the lovely designs.

CentiLong is Christina from Rappedikke and Lis from Karlsons Kludeskab. Both extremely talented and skilled women in the world of crafting. I also like keeping up on life in general through their words and pictures, and I almost always feel inspired and not least humanly enriched. 

I know that I have said it before, but I'm incredibly fond of patterns which are simple and elegant, and which have their own cool expressions anyway. CentiLong's designs succeed in that. By gorgeous frills and little details. 

The designs can be made in the sizes 1, 2 and 3 years, and oh how I'm thrilled once more by the fact that our little niece Agnes can act as user of clothes in mini sizes...

Vendestrik bukser

Til alle os der holder af bøgerne "Vendestrik" og "Vendestrik #2" er der godt nyt i vente. Forlaget Vingefang udgiver nu bogen "Vendestrik bukser" af Hanne Meedom.

Tænk engang at man også kan strikke bukser i vendestrik - den tanke har aldrig strejfet mig. Men nu skal det undersøges hvordan det gøres. 

Jeg håber sådan i mit stille sind, at der også snart kommer flere sybøger fra Hanne og Sofie Meedom. Deres sybøger er intet mindre end vidunderlige, og fulde af en masse gode basismønstre på børnetøj. Og har man ikke den store erfaring med at sy, kan man sagtens kaste sig over bøgerne alligevel. Der er grundige forklaringer af forskellige syteknikker.

* * * * * * * * * * *

For those of us who likes the books Vendestrik and Vendestrik #2 there is a good piece of news. The publishing company Vingefang sends the book Vendestrik bukser on the market.

Just imagine that one can knit trousers in short row knitting - that thought has never crossed my mind. But now I want to check out how it's done.

I really hope that more sewingbooks will be coming from Hanne and Sofie Meedom. Their sewingbooks are nothing less than wonderful, and filled with a lot of good basis sewing patterns for children's clothes. And if you haven't got that much experience with sewing, you can easily use the books anyway. There are thorough explanations of various sewing techniques.

BALDVINSSON c h i l d r e n ' s - c l o t h e s

My oldest niece Ida has the sweetest boyfriend called Runi. And Runi's mother Annika Baldvinsson is a talented and experienced designer of children's clothes.

She recently started an online shop - Baldvinsson - with gorgeous clothes, which will excite children as well as their mothers. The clothes are very lovely and the prices are definitely fair.

This afternoon I had a little look at the shop, and ended up buying this fine knitted dress in cotton - for only 125 Danish kroner .


And I also had to have the cool yellow t-shirt with the headphones on the front. (The print is designed by Runi, by the way). It costs 100 Danish kroner.


Both things will be presents for our niece and nephew, but I wish that my own children could fit into them.

There is so much more to see in shop. Both for girls and boys - sizes start at 56 cm and end at 146 cm. You should go have a look...

R o u n d - & - g o r g e o u s

Today I had a look at Lis' lovely shop. I always read her blog, but it had been a while ago since I passed by her shop.

Maybe I shouldn't have done that, because the beautiful pillow below was such a brilliant palet of soft colours, which I just couldn't keep my eyes of. At the moment I'm very fond of mustard coloured interior items and clothes. And along with the coral triangle in the circle the mustard colour is perfect.

Photo from Karlsons Kludeskab's shop

So I bought the pillow - but not for me. Anne-Sophie has some of these pillows at home, and I thought that this round beauty might present itself well with them. Now I hope that she likes it - otherwise it's not a problem. I can easily find a good spot for it in my livingroom...

A favourite artist

It's actually not that long ago, that I discovered the amazing artist Jennifer Davis and her breathtaking work.

I knew from the minute I saw her paintings and prints, that I wanted to buy a print from her.

So I did - these 2 are the ones which I decided on. 

Photo from Jennifer Davis Art

Photo from Jennifer Davis Art

Crocheted garland for Ida

Crocheted garland, a photo by lille-ursus on Flickr.

I can hardly believe it - I made my first crocheted garland.

A while ago Anne-Sophie asked me whether I would do her a big favour. She wanted to give her dearest friend Ida (whom you might remember is our niece and cousin) a crocheted garland as a part of her birthday present.

Of course I wanted to help, so Anne-Sophie bought the materials and I did the work.

The beautiful garland which I had seen on Karen Klarbæks blog, also came with a free pattern. Perfect for me. Thanks a million to Karen for her generosity.

And to my pleasent surprise I picked up the crocheting very fast. A new kind of crochet stitch has been added to my mind - and hands! As the very last thing I added fine little bells in pastel colours, which made me think of spring.

Luckily Ida liked the garland...and I need to make more for my own house and garden.

She's back!!

It was with much joy that I read this post on Ida's blog Midtimellem . ( An inspirering and wonderful blog by the way).

Because Ida had fabulous news to tell about the illustrator Karina Bækkelund, whom I admire tremendously for her brilliant work.
A while ago Karina closed her Amio shop and I thought that it was a huge shame, but I'm sure that she had a good reason to do so.

Photo from Karina Bækkenlund's Amioshop

BUT now she has reopened her shop! I'm really delighted that Ida told about it on her blog, because I have been keeping an eye on Karina's shop for months, but at a point I stopped checking it out.

Today it was time to act immediately before all of the beautiful things were sold out. So hopefully these 2 fine angles will hang in my home in a little while.

Photo from Karina Bækkenlund's Amioshop

If you like Karina's gentle angles and gorgeous squirrels, you have the exclusive opportunity to win some of her work in the giveaway, which Ida is having at her blog at the moment. You can enter the competition right here...

I'm waiting for Tusindfryd dukker

These days I have been thinking a lot about Wenche. The sweet, sweet woman who has the much inspiring blog Tusindfryd, and whom has made a deep  impression on me with her caring and heartwarming personality.

She's a very talented dollmaker, and has just had her first book about dollmaking published. In fact it was released at Klematis the other day, and that's the reason why I have had her in the back of my mind lately.

Photo from Klematis

I'm so happy for Wenche - to see one's hard work and beautiful ideas in a book, must be such a fantastic thing. I know that she will have done her utmost to make the book, so it will present itself in the very best way - both for the eyes and the mind.

I have already ordered my copy of the book Tusindfryd dukker - I couldn't wait until Christmas!
And I'm convinced that we can learn and enjoy from the minute we turn the first page in Wenche's book. I can hardly wait...

Have you heard of Coupé Couzu?

My excitement was huge when I found a - for me so far unknown - French shop with sewing patterns.

The same love I have for delightful and elegant French patterns for children, is like the one I have for similar patterns for adults.

Clothes which will never grow too old and become out of fashion in my eyes. Well, it can get washed-out in time and be suitable for the bin, but that is a whole different matter.

I bought myself 2 new patterns. They are both for tunics which I can wear on weekdays. And that's excactly what I need these days. A lot of my tunics are with short sleeves, and even though I'm not a freezing kind of person, it's still nice to wear long sleeves when temperature is low.

One of the patterns is Blue Light Blouse. The neckline is the reason why I chose that pattern - I like how it's lines go.

The other pattern is Blouse Attache Moi. Tie-strings in front of a blouse or tunic have always been something which I'm fond of. I like that you can make it look more casual in this way. And pick cool fabric for the little bit you use to make the tie string. Making the right - and daring - choice, can make a tunic change it's expression in a second. I love that!

A few of the patterns were actually also available in children's sizes.

Finding the Pochettes patrons collection from Copué Couzu was so nice. Now I have signed up for their newsletter, and will know when they send out more gorgeous patterns in the future...

It has been far too long ago

...since I made a flickr favourite mosaic. So here you go - a little view of the things I love at the moment.

1. Owl Family, 2. free-motioning, 3. Tjulahopsasa..., 4. Little Snowy, 5. Untitled, 6. Periwinkle Monster and other monsters4, 7. love... !, 8. chicken brooch, 9. Usynlig eller..., 10. Thanksgiving, 11. Les filles onomatopéiques, 12. tweedy stripes..., 13. ., 14. Lovely Design's Lovely Little Forest Quilt, 15. pop bottle curtain, 16. dress shirt, 17. patchwork pincushions in progress, 18. HIMYM top, 19. Abby Jacket, 20. Tula Pink tunic 2, 21. dots 002, 22. Stella's summer outfit2, 23. Stella's top1_1, 24. Wearing a Scarf II, 25. <3

Late night shopping

Late last night, while I was waiting for a text message from Anne-Sophie to tell that they had arrived, I surfed around the internet. It's such a fine way to make time pass and let your mind flow.

Of course I had to go to knitting and sewing sites to see if anything new and interesting could be seen. My way went by Tanterne as many Danish knitters and crocheters prefer to call this lovely shop. I haven't actually been at the physical shop, but I have visited their online shop - Tante Grøn - many times.

And look what I saw in their children's category - Pippi i blomsterfrø. Those of you who went to Fanø for the Dansih Knitting festival this September, probably already know it. (I read that Tante Grøn brought the pattern with them to the wonderful island).

But I think that it's beauty has to be shown again - at least for those of us who didn't have the pleasure to well in knitting paradise for a whole weekend.

Photo from Tante Grøn

It's a knitted version of the kind of scarf dress I love for little girls. I have sewn quite a few during time, and I don't think that I will ever get tired of the look.

So it was almost the formula for success when I saw the Pippi Blomsterfrø scarf dress - and it had stripes as well!
This is how it looks like seen from the back. I adore those colours.

Photo from Tante Grøn

The yarn is  Bio Blomsterfrø - a 100 % ecological yarn in beautiful dusty colours, and the pattern is designed by Tante Grøn. I bought the kit for the sizes 1-2 years + 3-4 years. It requires the same amount of yarn, so I haven't decided which size to make yet.

Not a bad outcome of some late night shopping.

Today is a special day...

...for my niece Ida.

It's the day where she gets to hold a photo exhibition - PERSONLIGT FOTOGRAFI - along with her fellow students. If you live in Aarhus, I think that you should go have a look at the many wonderful photos.


Or else you could take a look at the beautiful website Ida has made. She also have a flickr.

Today I'm definitely one extra, extra proud aunt. (I always am...)

Photo from Ida Velling's flickr

Do you love baby blankets as much as I??

I definitely have a soft spot for lovely knitted blankets for babies.


Far too many times have I clicked on the favourite button on ravelry, when I saw a tempting pattern. And that without having a baby to warm with stitches in wool.


Now it's time to fall in love with another fabulous pattern. And so I did - right away - when I read the blog post Rosanna wrote yesterday.  


She has knitted the most beautiful blanket for her little niece. It looks extremely fine and delicate with the neatly knitted lace pattern. Perfect for a soft baby to be swaddled in, and a luxurious gift for baby and parents to enjoy for many years.


The pattern is designed by Rosanna herself, and I love the idea she had about making something auntie-made for her sister's daughter.


And take a look at what Rosanna generously offers to us  - the Savannah baby blanket pattern - for free!!

Photo from Rosanna's blog Eaviola

They are back! Or is it just me who is slow?

I remember when I, as a young girl, flicked through the pages of the Danish magazine Femina, to find the knitting patterns of the week.

They were always trendy and funny to make, and the patterns have often been the source when I knitted new things in my youth.

All of a sudden the magazine stopped bringing knitting patterns, and the crafty part became a less important factor. That really dissappointed me, but as time went by I forgot all about it.

But then I googled something about knitting, and there it was: a link to lots of beautiful and free knitting patterns from Femina's website!

Maybe it's old news to you, but I got happy. And why on earth didn't it strike me before, that this particular magazine might have a crafty part on their website, like so many other magazines??

So now the little top above has already been printed for future projects, and so will the pattern for the white baby and toddler vest be.

Sadly they are all written in Danish, but maybe they can be an inspiration anyway.