Something for myself

For my birthday this year, I got some nice things. Among them were several balls of yarn in lovely greens and blues. Since they were a present for me, I realized I should probably use them to make something for myself. It's been ages since I have, so at first I was a bit confused. What to make? "A shawl," someone suggested. "Well, that's easy enough," I thought. So I started crocheting, using the love knots-technique (still not knitting much...), but when I came about halfway I remembered something. I never really wear shawls... Sooo, I transformed the shawl into a big hood. And the hood needed something to sit on, so then I made a vest! I bought light green/white wool to make the border, also with love knots. I've made several flowers with the blue/green yarn, and used one of them as a button on the front of the vest. It was easy and fun to make this, all though the shape isn't exactly perfect - but since this is my first attempt at making a crochet vest, and not using a pattern, I'm quite pleased :) I really got the make-something-for-myself-thing out of my system, so no I'm ready to focus on Christmas-presents :3

Biiig hood, with tassel :)

And there's the little felt bag from previous post... I decided to take pictures of bag and vest in the same go to save some time (for my volunteer photographer :)).

I like how I can hide in my big hood. The love knots make for a decorative pattern to put on top of nice tops and shirts. The one I'm wearing under the vest in these pictures wasn't the best choice, though... But never mind :3

Stay tuned for X-mas-inspiration (and no, it's not too early) ;)

Fun with felt 

We've had a few warm days. For a while it almost felt like summer, which was a bit confusing... But last night autumn came back in business, with really heavy rain and winds I could feel through the wall. That's when you know you did the right thing, choosing woolens for the children to wear the next day. 
Wool is such a clever thing. It doesn't get cold and clammy, even if you get wet from rain, snow or sweat. It breathes, so you don't really get sweaty that easily, and treated with lanolin (which is in the wool to begin with, before it is processed for textile, etc.) it also has antibacterial and anti fungal properties. It is also, to an extent, waterproof. Hooray for wool! And for all the animals that make it :) 
I've been tidying a bit in "the office" again, and found a felted handbag I made eons ago (which to me is about seven years ago, he he). I also found some leftover felt I made last year (I make my own felt with dyed wool), and decided to make a couple of lanterns (one of which I'll share with you here). So, here's today's tribute to wool.

Ah, welcome back, one of my first felt projects...

Open sesame! 

Brown cotton fabric as lining. Plenty of room for keys, phone, credit cards... Or something :3

I've twisted thin gold wire around the tips, and put some pretty plastic and wood pearls on. Thin gold chain as bag strap.

Had to try it on... The newly made crochet vest I'm wearing will be described in a different post :)

This is what it looks like from behind

Ah, how I love green :3
 

I don't like wasting stuff, so I've put felt from last years Christmas present-making to use.

Ambiance :)

I've stitched different pieces together (rectangular pieces with half-hearts, making a heart where it is sown together) with gold thread, and a ribbon to tie up the top

I like blues and purple too :3 I sewed on little purple metallic roses here and there

Keep warm <3