Not-so-frozen leaves beaded shawl

The thing about lace knitting... There are only a few items that allow you to immerse yourself in that kind of knitting, and those are shawls, scarves and table cloths. And since lace knitted table cloths really aren't anything I'd ever use, shawls it is. This pattern is called Frozen Leaves, but I've done mine in a lush, vibrant green and beaded it for added shine.

Frogging mohair is a nightmare, so I wanted a simple, classic design. The large leaves of this pattern appealed to me, and I’ve done enough knitting now to be able to figure out the pattern and recipe despite its obvious shortcomings.
The yarn, however, is gorgeous! DROPS Kid-Silk is soft and thin, and still strong. The matte, dark green mohair has a light, glossy silk core that gives lots of shine and life to this shawl. It’s strangely warm despite its feathery light feel… :)

The last row in pattern, with beading, took me the better part of three whole evenings. Yes, you read that right. THREE evenings. For ONE row! But it was all worth it. :) Not enough beads for another row, so I ended it there.
There are twelve leaves along the center spine, and a few rows of filler pattern at the edge. So this is quite big. Finished measurements: 90cm from the neck down, 180 cm across. Big&beautiful. The beads really make a big difference, adding a lot of shine and brightness to an otherwise quite dark shawl. Love it. :) Details on my Ravelry page.

The wedding standard

Whenever I get a request for a wedding card, I immediately reach for the white and silver cardstock. It's the silver standard, so to say, for my wedding cards. This one came together quite quickly for that reason - no tricky colours to match or contrast, no long hunts for that perfectly coloured embellishment. Neutrals I've got. ;) The layout is also very familiar by now... Three cheers for effectivity!

Sunday mittens

After my Echo Flower shawl, I had enough yarn left for something small to match. These mittens caught my eye and was made with just over one skein DROPS Alpaca. I am so pleased with these! The lace pattern looks beautiful and they are a great fit on my hands.

I’ve knitted both mittens at once as usual, on two circular needles. As the pattern says, there is some guessing required, but most of it is very easy. The decreasing at the end had me scratching my head for a while though. Fortunately, someone else had guessed before me and charted a solution! Ravelry is a wonderful thing. :)

The mittens underwent the weirdest blocking process ever. I nibbled away at two corners on two large chocolate bars (making the ends slightly pointed), replaced them in their plastic wrappers, and stuffed them into the wet mittens! :P It worked great by the way - now they’re just a tiny bit looser around my finger tips. Perfect! Details on my Ravelry page as usual.

DIY distressed photo canvas

Aaaaaw... Now look at that cutie!! :) She's my niece, 7 months old in that picture. What a smile. :)
There's a ton of detailed tutorials out there on how to do this, check this one out for example. I'm not going to bore you by repeating it - but since there are so many variations, here's a super quick recap of the choices I made: After tweaking the picture to my liking (and mirroring it!) I printed it on a laser printer on ordinary printer paper. I used a thin layer of Golden Gel Medium (Soft Gel, semi-gloss finish) to attach the picture and three more coats after removal of the paper pulp, for a good seal. Then used the same medium to fasten the lace, which wraps over the canvas edge. The string was the final touch - it's something K's mom does when she makes her own art, so this canvas should fit in nicely in their home.

The transfer of the photo was nearly perfect! In fact, far too perfect for the look I was trying to achieve. So I scrubbed really hard along the edges of the photo, even scratching it with my nails, to give it a more distressed look. I also sanded down my signature (bottom left corner) a bit.



When I chose the lace it was late at night, and the sunlight the next morning sent me into a bit of a panick. The lace was crisp white and the canvas is off-white - a difference that was invisible in lamp light, but incredibly ugly in sunlight. What to do, what to do... DistressInk to the rescue! I carefully inked the lace and sides of the canvas and the problem was solved. In fact, I probably should have inked it even if the lace matched the canvas. The darkened edge (which is surprisingly difficult to see in these photos) created that depth and definition that pulled everything together, and it echoes the brown string. All in all, this was an easy project that looks awesome. :)

It's the little things that make life big

...like little cards for example. ;) This is the last one for now, but I'm sure there will be more some time soon. Next up is some canvas crafting, and then some knitting. And then more cards. A sudden rise in activity here, I like it! :)

A little hello

More tiny cards! More scraps! More baker's twine! Do you see how this works? You make one, the leftover materials are right there in front of you, and you slap them onto the next card base. Easy peasy. That leaves enough brain capacity to chat with all the other girls/women in the room while crafting. :)

Happy birthday

Oh I think this one is a favourite of the tiny cards... Simple, with just the right amount of detail. Baker's twine of course, and that gorgeous Stempelglede stamp is perfect.

Happy day

Another small card. It's so easy to use paper scraps with these, so the cards will often have similar colours... The washi tape is Tim Holtz. Love it!!