Small sunday mittens

I've made these mittens once before, and loved the look and fit. Hoping to make the same pattern fit my grandmother's smaller hands, I've made these in DROPS Lace, which is a considerably thinner yarn. Let's hope that worked well... My gauge on the stockinette section is 50 stitches per 10 cm! That’s a new record. Ravelry link.

Beautiful cable and fan pattern, smooth stockinette with nice thumb shaping.
Below: how to block mittens without special tools: Nibble away at a big chocolate bar and wet block on that! Any excuse to eat chocolate is welcome (not that I need one). :)

Grandma's mittens

Grandma got a pair of mittens for christmas, too. She wanted useful things, and this should work, I hope. The pattern is, again, the same as the photographer's mittens, this time without any finger holes or flaps or anything. I couldn't resist doing a tiny little snowflake pattern in duplicate stitch, even though I really didn't have time. It could have been nicer, time permitting, but they'll have to do.

-Clean and simple! My grandma is a teeny tiny woman, so they are too small for me to model. You'll have to settle for these boring pictures, but you get the point. ;) The details are, as usual, on my Ravelry page.

Mommy's mittens

Time to start revealing some christmas gifts, now that the recipients have torn away the paper and hopefully enjoyed what they found. :) First out is this pair of mittens I made for my cousin. She's a mommy to two little ones and I hope this will be a practical thing to have around this winter. Now, she can fold the flaps back and to fiddly little things like retying shoelaces and so on, and then just pop the fingers back in to keep them warm.

-They started out being based on my photographer's mittens, but instead of a hole for the index fingers I made a flap that covers the four finger group. It might not look like it, but the flap was knitted first and the "inner tube" picked up from live stitches (palm side) and knitted into purl bumps (back of the hand) afterwards. The result isn't too bad! There are probably some great recipes for this flap thing out there, but I was in the swing of things and just winged it. Details on my Ravelry page as usual.

Merry christmas to all and to all a good night

Just stopping by to wish you all a joyful christmas celebration!

May your days be merry and bright. :)

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In the following days, I'll post my handmade gifts here on this little blog. Today I'm just showing you how I've wrapped most of the gifts this year. The old-fashioned, rustic way! Well, my version of it anyway. ;) I have to admit I like giving the wrapping some attention. Somehow, it makes me feel that every gift is special - that the giving itself matters, not just the contents of the gift.

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I've used ordinary kraft wrapping paper, kraft and red stripe paper, christmas themed washi tape, and kraft tags with inked edges and a piece of washi tape, all tied together with black and white baker's twine made from paper. It may look much, but it's actually mostly really cheap materials so I have no guilty feelings about it.

My mom is probably going to ask where's the gold, because that's her quintessential ingredient of christmas decoration... So for one of her gifts, I've stamped the kraft wrapping paper with two snowflake designs in white ink, sprayed gold Glimmermist on top, and used white and gold paper raffia ribbon to tie it. You can see the ingredients of her wrapping in the picture. ;)

Knitter's gift tags/washing labels

Every knitted gift I gave this christmas had one of these gift tags enclosed. I wrote washing instructions on the back as well as a little info on the yarn or anything else that could be useful to know. It also serves as a way of bringing in my personal stamp, that's always fun. But most importantly, they are the excuse I needed to make some of these awesome tiny yarn ball embellishments! You could even look at this as an elegant way of including extra yarn for emergency repairs.

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I've done one of these before, ages ago, on a birthday card for avid knitter Olaug. And ever since, I've been looking for an occation to do it again! The idea and tutorial comes from the Craft blog. I did one for each gift, using the corresponding yarn or yarns. As an added bonus, you can even look at this as an elegant way of including extra yarn for emergency repairs! The yarn is wound around a piece of cardboard that's glued to the tag, and the knitting needles are cocktail sticks with beads glued on. The DP is a thick double-sided one from Panduro (from the same stack as my gift tags). I gave the edges a little colour using shimmering chalk in matching colours.

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As you might see from the colours here, there are still a few of these gifts that haven't been posted yet... Just thought I'd show you something other than felted slippers today. ;)

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Ice decorations

I've actually posted these once before, but thought they deserved a new look. We've had stable, low temperatures for a quite a while now and they have decorated my veranda for a couple of weeks already. They have become something of a winter tradition of mine. I used to be able to make snow lanterns, but that's a bit tricky when all I have is a veranda... These are a brilliant replacement tradition!
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The original idea came from Margie at Resurrection Fern, who used lace doilies for her decorations. I had some crochet snowflakes lying in a drawer and used those.

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Once you've got your crochet snowflakes or doilies, soak them through with water and place in a round container with a flat bottom. Leave a string outside the container so you have something to hang them from. Place containers outside and fill with enough water to cover the snowflakes, about a cm or two should do it. Remember that water expands when freezing, so make sure that your containers kan take the strain. Most plastics or metals should work - just make sure to avoid the fine china. ;)

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Let the container sit outside overnight and display your new ornaments! If they melt you can just refreeze them as soon as the temperatures drop.

-I'm taking a blogging break for the holidays, but don't worry! As I'm writing this I've already got 14 posts pre-scheduled, so there should be enough happening here anyway. ;) All those christmas gifts can finally be revealed... Merry christmas to you all!

Homemade Bounty

Having made our traditional peppermint pralines last week, there was lots of the shredded coconut stuff left. This happens every year. I once found a bag of coconut I had first used three years before. Honestly! Then and there I vowed to find a recipe that would help me get rid of these leftovers.
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Last year I made some Bounty chocolates using this Cut Out + Keep recipe, but the amounts were totally off, and you'll see in the comments that many had the same opinion. Way too much butter, not enough powdered sugar. Luckily I had tasted as I went along (well, that's half the joy of baking, right??) and added what I needed to make them taste good. And trust me, they were very good. :P This year I thought I'd go about it a little more carefully and write up a better recipe. I measured and added ingredients until the texture and taste felt right and added it all up in the end. There are other variations out there, but most require double cream or condensed milk, and I like the simplicity of this recipe.
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The amounts have been rounded off, and adjusted so you can use a whole bag of shredded coconut (250g). I had about half that left this year, and I still got about 40 bite-sized pieces, so this recipe is quite large. I think I'll stick to half amounts of everything in the future too. The picture above is from last year, when I made them in a size more similar to the original Bounty chocolate. If you do them that big, I think you'll get about 25 bars from this recipe. That's a lot of Bounty! (I'm trying very hard to avvoid the cheezy bounty-ful jokes here folks. Help me out.)
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Quick, before I say something too stupid: Let's get right down to the (huge) recipe!
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250g shredded coconut (the dry, unsweetned stuff, sometimes called dessicated coconut)
170g butter (at room tempererature)
400g powdered sugar
500g chocolate
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Mix together coconut, butter and powdered sugar well using a fork. This takes a bit of effort, and the mixture will seem way too dry at first. Keep working on it for a couple of minutes and it should suddenly come together to a firm, but sticky mass. Press toghether to form a sheet about a cm in thickness - I just do this by hand on a piece of parchment paper on my kitchen counter. Place in fridge for an hour or so, until completely firm. Cut into pieces of desired size - a sharp, hot knife will make this easy. Melt chocolate (temper if you like), cover coconut pieces. Place on plate covered with non-stick paper and let cool completely. Store in fridge.

Christmas card mass production

Silly me sold all my christmas cards... Whoops! The money was just a little too tempting... :P And I figured that I could always just make some more. But when I lit the third advent candle I suddenly felt like time was running away from me and quickly decided on a simple design that could be easily mass produced. The lovely bauble is from the Penny Black Brushstroke series and is embossed with white glittery embossing powder. The sentiment says something like "Good wishes for christmas and the new year". I added some lines with a white pen, and a piece of red baker's twine.
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Here's the full layout! Front page, in white glittery embossing, the reverse side with a snowflake background in glittery watermark ink and my personal stamp in white, and the simple inside with two large snowflakes in white ink. I wrote my message with a white pen. Merry christmas!

Christmas traditions: peppermint pralines

There are a few traditions that never change, this is one of ours. There is no christmas without these peppermint pralines! I have to be careful not to make them too early or they will mysteriously disappear long before the big day. They look a little like snowballs, don't you think, even if the dark chocolate shines through?
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I distinctly remember stiff shoulders and aching arm muscles after stirring this mixture, and complaining to my mother that these took ages to get done. I must have been very young then, because although you have to expect to spend some time with these because of the several steps involved, it's a breeze compared to my childhood memories. Thankfully. ;)
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1 dl milk
1 large teaspoon flour
500 g powdered sugar
6-8 drops of peppermint oil (food grade)
300 g dark chocolate
ca 150 g shredded coconut
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Combine milk and flour and bring to a boil. Let cool. Stir in powdered sugar, a little at the time. Add the peppermint oil somewhere on the way - it's easier to stir it in before the mixture becomes too thick. Add more powdered sugar if needed. The consistency should be such that you can roll little balls of it with your hands. Do so, and let them cool in the fridge for a few hours until properly stiff. Melt chocolate and pour shredded coconut in separate bowls. Using forks or other suitable tools, dip each praline first in chocolate, then roll in coconut and let cool completely in fridge. Store in fridge.
I have no idea how long these can keep - because they never last very long in my fridge anyway... ;)

More gift tags

Since my mother ended up with all the gift tags I made last weekend, I've made another batch for myself in a similar style. These will do for a while, and I'll just whip up more as I need them. They are so quick and easy to make! My mother's button box had a few treasures, but most of these buttons come from my own, rather boring, collection.

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I couldn't resist giving these a spray of Glimmermist Old Lace for some shine. The edges are inked with DistressInk Vintage Photo.
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Christmas gift tags

Who hasn't enjoyed a deep dive into grandma's or mama's button box? ;) I got a chance to do just that this weekend, and made these easy gift tags with the treasures I found. The DP is thick, double-sided cardstock from Panduro. I cut them into tags with my Cuttlebug and tied the buttons to it using red baker's twine. The most time-consuming part was to get my oversized baker's twine through the tiny button holes!
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Kitchy and cool, just look at that clear button... ;)
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Some more earthy, traditional buttons give the tag a completely different look.
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They make a nice little set! My mother scooped these up right away, so I think there will be more button treasure hunts in my near future... :P

Christmas traditions: advent calendar

Not much activity here on this little blog lately... I'm making christmas gift by the dozen - and, for understandable reasons, I want to keep them secret for now. Expect lots and lots of posts after christmas! ;) Thank you all for visiting, even if I don't have much new to show you yet!
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But I'd like to give you something to look at while you wait. Those of you who have been here for a year or more have seen this before, but a little rerun isn't all that bad, is it? ;) Last year I made an advent calendar and shared the pages throughout December, and I've really been looking forward to bringing the calendar out on display this year too. I scrapped one 12"x12" page for each day - and I'd like to show you some of my favourites. If you like what you see, here's the link to the whole set of posts, where there are detail photos, material lists and more general info on each page.
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December 4th, one of the few pages with flowers. I could go on and on about that DP, it's so gorgeous...

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A simpler, two-tone layout, with a poem that starts out so pretty and cute, and ends in a naughty surprise. ;)

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After a little digging in my parent's albums I found this photo of myself as St.a Lucia at six years of age. I cleaned it up and made this layout about bringing light into the darkness.

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Ok, so there wasn't that much snow, it was just absolutely everywhere... My poor car was just spraypainted with the stuff. Sometimes you should just stay inside.

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A clean, simple layout with one lovely picture. I need a change from the embellishment overload sometimes, and this one does the trick.

-Ahem... Did I say embellishment overload?? ;) Well, sometimes more is more. I also like this one for its quote about the "little spark of madness".
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Nearly christmas! This layout is among the last, and echoes the first page and its focus on time.
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So if you'd like to see more, feel free to have a look at the whole set.

Christmas card #5, A star is shining this night

This line from a Norwegian christmas song (one of our modern classics), "A star is shining this night", seems to be the perfect match to this cute image. I've coloured the girls using Prismas as usual. The blue dress is easy, but I have precious few red colours in my kit, and had to use some white and 20% Frech Grey for the highlights. No more red dresses. ;) Some shimmering chalks create the soft background.

Christmas card #4, Willow with candle

"We light our lanterns when darkness falls." It's a line from a beautiful Norwegian christmas song, and it suits this image so well. And oh, how I love to colour these lovely dresses! Lots of flowing fabric that brings out the three-dimentional effect really well. They take a lot of time to colour though! I've used no less than four shades of blue Prismas for each of the elements in the dress... It takes a lot more work to get the highlights out when working on kraft, but it's definitely worth it. I love the contrast of the bright, strong image against the natural, muted kraft cardstock. The shimmering chalks bring a glow around the image, slightly helped by some yellow Prisma colour right next to the candle.

Christmas card #3, Henry and wreath

I tried to get some depth into this mainly green wreath, but I still feel like I should go back and add something... Maybe. There's my issue with Henry being tricky to colour on kraft again, but I think he'll have to do like this. I think I'll make more of these cards using Willow instead, I'm usually much more pleased with her flowing dresses! More to come! ;)

Christmas card #2, Henry and cocoa

The kraft cards continue! This stamp is called "Henry with large teacup", but who puts marshmallows in their tea? :P Nope, it's definitely a cup of cocoa in my mind. Oh, but he's so cute no matter what he's drinking. I think Henry is difficult to colour, at least on kraft... Other colours blend and cover the kraft fairly easily, but the white and greys are tricky to get right. Practice, practice. I've used my Prismas of course, and shaded around the image with shimmering chalks. The sentiment says something like "Christmas - a time for thought, caring and warmth".

Christmas card #1! Willow with lantern

While many of you out there are currently working on your christmas card #50 or so, I've just managed to make my first one for this year. I made this the same day as my previous card and as "Willow with lantern" is my absolute favourite stamp designed for colouring, the choice was easy. The sentiment is a line from a beautiful Norwegian christmas song and is hard to translate in any beautiful way, but basically it says "we light our lanterns when darkness falls". Suggestions for a more poetic translation are very welcome.
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I've used my Prisma pencils of course, and added some shine with shimmering chalks. The chalk is not very visible in the picture, but adds a subtle glow around the lantern and Willow's upper body. The single layer look is tempting, but I still feel like I haven't quite got it right yet... Although I have no idea of what to do different. Oh well, maybe it just takes some getting used to? It certainly is a change from my usual stuff! I think this just might be the theme for this year's christmas cards.

Cocoa in a jar

This concept was completely unknown to me until I stumbled across it on a blog shortly before christmas. Cocoa mix in a jar! A quick Google search yielded lots of recipes - not just for cocoa mixes, but cupcakes, brownies, even soups and stews! The principle is simple enough - layer all dry ingredients compressing them well to maintain a sharp line between each ingredient. Decorate your container and be sure to include instructions for preparation. Done! It's even upcycling - this glass used to hold tikka masala sauce.

I used this recipe as my guide, substituting brown sugar for some of the white sugar, and a few drops of peppermint extract for the candy canes. It would have looked more festive with the candy canes, but I unfortunately didn't have time to go searching for it. Ingredients are (from bottom): Powdered milk, cocoa powder, white sugar, brown sugar (with peppermint extract), chocolate chips. The brown sugar is sticky and forms a nice seal over the white sugar which would otherwise mix with the chocolate chips, and it tastes great too. ;)

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to all, and to all a good night!
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I've been saving this post for a while, and decided that the first day in the new year would be the right occation to show off what has been decorating my veranda the last couple of weeks. This is a variation on a brilliant idea I found on the always inspirational blog Resurrection Fern. Klick this link for her original post on this project. While she used lace doilies, I had neither doilies nor pans big enough for the job. But I had something just as good! Last winter I made quite a few crochet snowflakes that were still lying in a crumpled pile in a drawer - and some small plastic containers that were the perfect size.

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It couldn't be simpler. Just lay your lace in any flat bottomed container that can safely be frozen, fill with a centimeter or so of water and wait overnight! Making sure you have a string attatched at this point is an advantage. I hadn't even weaved in the ends of my snowflakes yet and simply used those. I suppose using boiled water would eliminate most of the small bubbles that form during the freezing process - I might try it out some time, but I really like them just as they are now! :)

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After two nights I had a whole row of icy snowflakes decorating my veranda! These will no doubt be the replacement to the snow lanterns I used to make when I lived on ground floor appartments. I've already remade them once, but the temperature quickly dropped back to 10-15 degrees Celcius and this time it seems like it will stay low for a few weeks, actually. I can't even remember last time that happened. It's so perfect that we had a true White Christimas, and then finish off the old year and start the new one with this amazing winter!
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Wishing you all a happy and peaceful brand new year!