god jul

When everyone else seem to slow down, say "happy holidays" and take some time off the computer, I do the opposite. I've been working hard lately to get everything ready for Christmas (in my shop), but now internet shopping is slowing down for a little while and it gives me time to focus on Christmas in my home and with my family. And to blog, tonight.



Oh, well, actually I should be working, I have plenty to do, but I'm tired tonight. Nora and I went to my mom (35 minutes drive from here) this evening. We took the old road instead of the highway, I love the old one, the rural landscape and the woods. I love to drive the same way again and again, in all seasons. Today, the darkest day of the year, it really was dark. When we went there in the afternoon it was like night and the moon was so big. Nora noted it looked like an apple in shape (last time we saw it she said "banana"). So much snow, and with moonlight on. And cold, - 18 degrees (Celsius; -0.4 Fahrenheit). This December we've had so much snow, every single day snow!, and so cold. It's very, very uncommon.

Christmas in our kitchen:


We've crafted some gifts, Nora has wrapped + decorated:


And tomorrow it's time for cleaning the house and making candy. So I'd better go to sleep now. Thank you for all your nice comments, I read and appreciate them, but haven't had the time to answer them yet. I will do it. But now, I wish you a merry Christmas. GOD JUL as we say in Sweden.

Snow

Nora and I have been out travelling, we visited my dad & co for a couple of days. When coming back home, winter arrived.

It'll be a bit silent here for a while as Christmas approaches and I have plenty to do, and more than that ;) , for my Swedish webshop. I'll continue to write here, but not every day :)

What a Wednesday can be like

Despite that it was white frost on the trees and grass, it's been a rather dark day, lights on inside and a lot of clothes on outside. In the morning we went to the dentist and Nora got a balloon and a toothbrush and toothpaste (but she refused to show her teeth ;) ), after that we went to buy some fabric (the store is just next door to the dentist's) and then we passed by "open kindergarten" because Nora wanted to show Maud (who works there and whom she really likes) her all the things she got at the dentist's. Busy morning! Now it's already afternoon and I have to work. Nora is watching Babar the elephant with dad and I will dive in to the felt blanket that I'm making. Dive in to, literaly, as I wet felt it.



Yarn made of banana fiber + recycled silk. I'm so looking forward to using it! And a felt flower I made.

Wig crocheting, sweets and too much chocolate

It's a busy mamma, it's a busy week. Today I have changed into winter tires on our car (well, I didn't do it myself, actually), so now winter can arrive any day (but please wait until the end of next week at least). I have worked a lot too, mostly with wet felting on the bathroom floor with Nora on my back, pretending I'm a horse and feeding me with imaginary hay (I'm very glad it's not real hay). Felting with a child on ones back, that's what I call heavy work.

No knitting today, but a little bit of crocheting:



I'm crocheting a wig for a doll. It's kind of boring so I make it more fun with a nice book. This one is full of sweets ... I bought it for my grandma and will give it to her later this week as Nora and I are going south on Thursday to visit some family members :)



Mmmm, polkagrisar, I love them. Peppermint. Mmm.

Unfortunately there's too much chocolate in this book. I don't like chocolate. I love chocolate. I might need a copy of this book for myself.



More yarn along on small things.

A few things I've made

Already Monday evening and I've just put Nora to bed. Now I'll sew a waldorf inspired doll, sitting in bed and hoping not to drop any needles ;) Yesterday I made a doll which was inspired both by waldorf and by kalikå. It's the first big doll I've ever made.



And here's a pair of earrings, the first thing I sold in my new Swedish shop.



Another wheat bag:

Craft kit on Etsy - Swedish hearts

Preparing for Christmas yet? I made this little craft kit for you :)



For 25 years of my life Christmas decorations was Christmas decorations. Then my friend Cora, from France, spent a month or two in Sweden during Christmas. She was fascinated by our decorations, saying that there were so many hearts, so much red and white, everywhere. And I thought Yes? That's what Christmas decorations are like, right?. Not until then did I realise that different kinds of decorations are popular in different countries. (Stupid of me, right? *smile*)

Anyway, some years have passed since then. And now I made this kit for you so that you can have your own Swedish hearts in your house ;) They are filled with cloves and smell wonderful. Check them out + read more on Etsy.

What shall we have for dinner today?

(The crocheted food is made by my friend Therese.)

A warm/cold cat ;-)

I made this little wheat warmer cat for a friend's child. It's the size of my palm so it's rather small, but I imagine the wheat makes it nice for a child to hold the cat, to throw it in the air and then catch it again. It can be heated in a microwave oven or chilled in the freezer.



I've been addicted to wheat warmers lately. I made this one, below, for my husband, but end up using it myself every day (he uses it too).

Yarn along in a snowy Sweden

Winter, snow, wind - it's a good company to knitting. If staying inside, that is. All Tuesday it was blowing, a lot, and snowing. Nora and Zam both love snow so poor mamma had to stay outside in that cold wind and make snow balls for both of them ;-) This is what it looked like at 3 pm. It was not as cozy as you might think.



I did cast on a new knitting, though. This one is just for me (which means I will probably finish it in 2012 or so). It's Noro, Kureyon, and it will become a leg-warmer. Two years ago I got a ball of yarn and knitted a leg-warmer. When I went to the yarn store to get more of that yarn, they were out of that color. Forever, I realised after coming back every now and then for a couple of months (and asking, of course). Spring came, and I gave up.



But having one leg-warmer is so pointless. Besides, it was getting cold outside and I started to long for two. I went back to the yarn store and asked them to pick out a ball of yarn that'd go with my one leg-warmer. Now I'm knitting the other one. To be used in 2013, maybe. And I'll probably look like a Noro version of Pippi Longstocking.

The book? I bought it last winter but haven't read it yet (and no, I'm not pregnant). It's three years ago I was pregnant and I think it's only now the book is somewhat easy for me to read. I picked it up again this morning and started reading.

Yarn along - read more over at Ginny's.

Tomten

Ten years ago I took a papir maché class. The teacher was an artist working in Israel, but that fall (or spring? I don't remember) she was in Sweden to visit her mother and she taught this class. It was a really great class and I learnt a lot. I made several big things, but also a bunch of small tomtar (gnomes). They are really, really small.



This one use to sit just above my sewing table to see that I work as I should (or else Santa wont come visit me). However Nora really likes him so I think half of the time he's moving around in our house but sooner or later he pops up again and I put him back where he lives. On the corner just above my sewing machine.

Where I sit, where I sew

I want to show you this stool (is that the correct word in English?) that we bought a few months back. It's a simple wooden one from Ikea, but I have painted it in Nora's and Magnus' favourite color. (It's a bit dirty on the photo though.) I've decorated it with an elephant as Nora really likes elephants (at the moment she's all about Babar the elephant. I mean except for tigers. And Christmas.)



I like this stool, it's steady and very useful. At the moment it's my "chair" in my new sewing corner. I've moved out of our bedroom to the small space next to the stairs. I think it's a really good place, except that I can't fit my more comfortable chair between the stairs and the table and have to use the purple stool. It works, but I can imagine many better chairs ... :)

Ridgeback wrist warmers

Nora and I have been to a big craft (mostly fabric + fibers) fair today, about 50 minutes by train from home, and we are soooo tired, but it was really great there, even Nora liked it. Because of that I'll only show you a photo of what I knitted for my friend, and then call it a weekend :-)



When I uploaded the photos I saw all of them were bad, no focus etc, but by then I had already sent the warmers to my friend. I think they do look better irl than on this photo as it's hard to see the "ridgeback" part of it in the photo. And yes, they were actually inspired by the dog breed Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Our tree

A walk to our story telling tree (we sit under it and tell stories).



Kom, mamma! (Come, mamma!)





Toller rolling.





There's a little santa tiger under the tree. She wants to hear a story about a cat and a christmas tree.

Yarn along

Knitting a gift for a friend (can't tell what it is yet, in case she's reading this post before she gets the gift) while reading Business administration. It's a small and simple knitting project, but a not-so simple book (however useful).

Inspired by Small things.

Some links for you

Waffle knit dishcloth pattern.

Crochet Grandma tree.

Fifi is already sharing some unusual and creative Christmas decorating ideas.

Anna Maria's fabrics are so colorful and make me happy. Soon irl too, as I've just ordered a bundle.

Moline always inspires me, especially through her flickr photos of her crafts and home, but also her collages which often are color themed.

Working hard

It's really hectic here at the moment. I've been working hard lately and I plan to open my new, improved (and Swedish) shop this week. I hope ... There are so many many small and big things to do, so much to think about, texts to write and photos to be taken, but also all those little details that you hardly notice when it works, and when being a buyer, but as a seller I have to think of all details. It's fun, but nonetheless hectic.



This doll arrived from Germany last week. Her name is Mandy, as my business name is Milly & Molly I thought Mandy might be a suitable name for her. She's heavy and the size of a 4-6 months old baby (not really remembering when Nora was that size, maybe even older?). I will use her to try my baby carriers (wraps, soft buckle carriers, mei tais etc) and also to show customers how to use them. I really like her, she feels almost like a real baby.

Did you have a nice weekend? Do you have Halloween where you live? We've only had it for the last 15 years or so, growing bigger each year. When I was little there was absolutely no trick or treat here ;-) But this year several kids have visited us, and of course I have given them treats ;-) although a bit in a hurry as I know Zam, our dog, woulde be scared if he saw them. He scares very easily.

:: this moment ::

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

via SouleMama.

Thoughts on November

It's early Thursday morning, Nora is still asleep and I sit next to her. The room is completely dark, but I see it slowly getting lighter outside. Soon it's November, which I think is the darkest month of the year. I know December is actually the darkest one, but then we've got all Christmas lights and decorations. In November it's just ... dark. No golden leaves on the trees anymore, most likely no bright snow on the ground yet. Still I like November. Its a month of indoor activity, a month of preparing for Christmas, a month of longing that now, when I'm a grown up, passes by so fast but, when I was little, seemed to last forever.

In November I plan to:
Go to the "sewing fair". There are many more craft things than those connected to sewing, like some paper crafts, yarn etc.
Make Christmas things for my shop. I'm planning on some felt decoration kits, amigurumi patterns and hearts with cloves. I hope I have the time.
Go visit my dad & co who live on an island 5-6 hours drive south of here (together with Nora).

What are you up to?

End of October

My little tiger

I have a little tiger in my house. She's been a tiger for quite a while, but noone saw her stripes and her tail so I made her a tiger costume.



Do I have to tell you she wears it every day?

Someone is 7 years old today

Inspired by SouleMama:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Visiting our story tree

Visiting our favourite tree, the story telling tree. This time she sat on my lap and I told her a story about an elephant family and a snail, celebrating Christmas (all at her request).

Nora's purple cat

This is "lila katt", purple cat. Nora has a made up cat and she says it's purple and called Pooh Bear. (She also has a purple car, equally invisible but often used.) One evening I made her this purple cat. I made it really fast and made several mistakes, but I does resemble of a cat and, most importantly, Nora likes it.



I was thinking it'd be stupid to make her invisible cat this visible, that I should incourange her imagination instead of making it into a "thing", but I shouldn't have worried. The purple cat very soon got three invisible kittens *smile*

A small gift

I made this little felted soap and the tea for a friend of mine. The tea is herbal and from our garden, it's apple mint and blackcurrant.

Bracelet

I have a blog friend who is so sweet and creative and who inspires me a lot. Still I haven't "talked" to her for ages. I feel so terrible bad because of that, but still I postpone writing to her. I think it's because I'm ashamed, and because I have no good excuse. It's so stupid of me.



I made her this bracelet. It's not my own design, but I thought it was nice to try someone else's design for a change. I don't know whether she'll like it, maybe it's too pink, but then on the other hand she can give it as a gift to a friend of hers :-) I thought if I make her this, then I will send it, and if I send it, then I'll have to write as well. I really want to stay in touch with her.

Are you ever doing or feeling like this, or is it just me? Since my daughter was born (and it's 2,5 years ago!!) things like this happen to me.

Thank you

We got married in the beginning of August, but not until now have I finished writing the thank you-cards. As always when I'm crafting I cannot make many things looking the same ...



The delay of the cards was because there were problems with the photos, but in the end we got what we wanted and now I'll send them all out. I love paper crafts and have dreamt of the beautiful cards I would make when we'd get married, but in the end I made really simple cards as we had a "simple" wedding and I wanted it to match. The same for the thank you-notes.

Soap felting

Nora and I tried to felt soap.



Well, I felted soap.

She:
Put liquid soap in the water
Put wool in the water
Put liquid soap on a soap bar and rubbed it
Took a bath

:: this moment ::

Inspired by Soule Mama:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

I was inside working and when I looked out through the window Nora and Magnus were busy :o) (And yes, Nora is all about Christmas at the moment.)

Behind the scenes

I'm busy working with my new webshop. I had one before, but now I'm changing to a better one. I'm photographing mei tais and baby carriers, writing code, uploading photos, deciding on prices ... etc



This it what it looks like behind the scene. I guess the finished result - the shop - will look neat & nice, and hopefully inspiring, but behind ... there's a mess. So today I'm taking some time off and clean our bedroom (which is ALSO my studio).

In our garden

Before the rain and the wind:



So many, many, many leaves have fallen down since I took this photo.

Our garden is small, but I love it. I might not take care of it as well as I should, and one might think I shouldn't have a garden or all those flowers, but I do anyway. I love the flowers. I planted summer flower seeds, but they didn't bloom until August and many of them are still beautiful.

It's windy and rainy, but I've still got some summer flowers.





But I guess this is a good bye to summer. Good bye summer! See you next year again!