Dragons & dinosaurs

Our favourite craft is of the more eco friendly kind. We love to use the things we otherwise throw away/recycle to create new things. I have a box in which we collect stuff to craft and build and play with. We're never allowed to save more "crap" than what can fit into the box, which is a good rule (or else we'd save too many "might be useful one day"-things). Nora often go to that box and says she's about to make one or another thing.

The other day she said "let's make dragons". So we did. I have to help her with the glue gun (it's too hot for her to handle), but else than that she makes most of it by herself. I love to see her creative ideas and how she uses the material to build something new. I made the big dragon, she made the small and much cooler one :)

Shared at KCCO today.

Bunny comfort and a cradle

When I was pregnant with Nora I bought a bunny for her. It was so soft och so nice to hold that I fell in love with it at the toy store.



Sometimes when I was feeling sad and alone (and I often were during that pregnancy, as I felt as "ill" that time as I do this time, but lived far from friends and family) I slept with that bunny in my arms. It comforted me.

Now it's one of Nora's favourites. She put it with it's kitty friend and some blankets in the cradle the other day.

I decided early that I'd buy a special softie for this baby too, during pregnancy. But since last time I've become much more aware of chemicals etc in toys and I couldn't make up my mind of what to give this little baby. I've been reading Alicia's blog for many, many years and now that she's been making the sweet Miss Maggie Rabbit kit I thought maybe I should buy it. A bunny for this baby too.

Friday was a bad day with a lot of pain and in the evening I was in a terrible mood. I checked out her blog and saw that she had just added the bunnies to the shop and before I knew it I had ordered one. The next morning they were all sold out. Much to my surprise this bunny has also been a comfort for me, even if it's not here yet. It's something to hold on to, and tonight, when I was awake (the pain wakes me up every 20 minutes), I thought of how I will sew the rabbit for my little baby. It was comforting. It almost made me smile :)



The cradle was built by my grandpa before I was born. Both me and my sister slept in it. Nora did not, she was that kind of baby who didn't want to leave her parents arms ;) She kind of still is, as she sleeps in our bed. This new little baby will also sleep with us during night so we put the cradle in the kitchen. I hope he/she will take daily naps there so that Nora and I can cook, create, eat etc all by ourselves for a little while every day. I think this baby might easier accept the cradle at daytime, as it can hear us being there all the time. Nora is never quiet ;-) But, we'll see. We don't know this baby yet.

knitted + felted slippers

Do you remember the slippers I was knitting on a few weeks ago? I finished them last week and felted them in the washing machine. They shrunk by 50% and are now as long as Nora's feet :-) Nora had chosen the yarn and now she told me she wanted pink and purple butterflies on them. I needle felted the butterflies and added some pink and blue glass beads. I put "sock stop" under them. The yarn and pattern are from Garnstudio. The yarn is Eskimo and you can find the pattern here.

I am very happy with the results. They're pretty and they're her size. Nora's opinion? "I don't think they're so comfortable." She does everything she can to keep her old slippers, that are about three sizes too small (she's walking on their heels) and has a big hole in the front (growing every week). But I think (or hope) she'll change her mind after using them for a week. Because that's what I told her: Wear them only one week and hopefully you'll get used to them, and if you don't like them by the end of that week, we'll think of something else. She agreed to that.

Today has been about walking - but in other ways. Nora and I went to my physiotherapist and I borrowed crutches + some other things that will help me and simplify my life. Now it's just a few weeks until the baby will arrive, and after that I will soon recover and be able to walk again. However now I will spend a few days learning to walk with crutches. I've never done that before.

winter holiday

It's Tuesday morning. Nora is on winter holidays all this week and outside it's just perfect weather for such a holiday: snow on the ground, frost on the trees, a little bit of sunshine. Had I not been 9 months pregnant I'd made us something hot to drink, some sandwiches and fruit to eat, and gone out in the nature. Maybe practiced a little ice skating with her too. But, because of pelvic girdle pain, I can only walk to the car and back and not so much more. Next winter, I tell myself. Next winter we'll do those things. This holiday we craft.

Yesterday we went to an "öppen förskola". It's a place where kids and parents can meet, like a kindergarten but still not at all. There's people working there, but the parents stay, and you can talk, play, eat, craft, maybe sing songs together or listen to a story. After coming home I was so tired. Nora was not. I finished a few knittings while she was creating. It was a nice afternoon.

Keep Calm Craft On.

knit a cat

I knitted a cat and wrote a tutorial in Swedish. I feel a bit too tired at the moment writing it in English, but I wanted to share the photo with you.

snack time

we make and create too much ;-)

What do you do with all stuff you create?



Nora and I love to create little creatures, aliens, houses etc and she plays with them (at least for a while, until some new are created). She doesn't want to part with them. It's just that we've made so many things - and there are more to come. Sometimes, when something is broken and she hasn't used it for a while, I throw it away. However she use to remember the things we made and ask for them.

I love the process of creating. I love that she plays with it. But I don't love having hundreds of little creatures and their houses all over our flat.

I guess I'm not alone feeling that way. How do you handle it?

what a newborn needs + needle felting

"Have you prepared everything for the baby?", people ask.

Well, um, no? Or, is there that much to prepare?

The baby will sleep with us in our bed, so no need to prepare a bed. We just have to move our bed to the wall, but that is done in a few minutes.

We have found Nora's old baby car safety seat (I'm sure there's another word for that, but my English isn't that advanced ;-) ) so that we can bring the baby home safely. We have also found Nora's baby clothes and begun to wash them. I have some cloth diapers ready in the bathroom (we will need more, but there's no catastrophy if the baby arrives before the diapers, it is possible to use conventional diapers for a while after all).

Another family borrowed our stroller a year ago and we haven't brought it back home yet, but as I sell baby carriers and wraps we'll get along well until it comes home again.

I can't think of anything else we have to prepare. A newborn baby doesn't need so much.

So I needle felted this for the baby:

Self striping yarn and a magazine

I've finished Nora's socks and her slippers. I'll just have to remember to take some pictures, and then I'll show you.The socks on the photo are for me (I think). I very seldom knit things for myself. I wonder why - I seem to be the one who appreciate knitted gifts the most ;-) Nora often likes what I'm knitting, until she's trying it on and exlaims "it's not comfortable!". Anyway, I cast on the red socks last Thursday on the sock knitting class and I'm trying a couple of new things, like making a stronger heel. I like that the yarn is self striping, it makes so fun to knit. "Just one more row", I say.

Except for the last chapter in the Confident Birth book, I'm not reading any book at the moment. However the last issue of Craftseller arrived two days ago. I haven't had time to really sit down and read it, I've only flipped through it a couple of times, but I hope I can read it any day now. Just so many other things and daily chores came in between (and I'm so tired in the evenings, I fall asleep together with Nora before ten pm).

More yarn along with Ginny.

Hama bead snowflakes

"I want to make something", Nora said yesterday evening. That was after a weekend full of play dooh that she got from my dad and his wife. She decided to make snowflakes out of Hama beads. She had a picture of such snowflakes and I was impressed at how soon she figured out exactly how to make them. I think they turned out quite pretty.

This morning she was still in a Hama bead-mood so she continued with the white beads on the star she begun a while back. She was so into it that she didn't want any breakfast (not that she's ever been a breakfast girl - opposite to Magnus and me).



Keep calm craft on.