Hooked on crochet

Hello Everyone!

Today I don't have much cross stitching progress to show you, since I'm in an insane crochet flow just now. All I want to do is crochet:) All day, every day!

One of the things I've been working on is a crochet storage basket. The inspiration for the basket comes from the wonderful Swedish crochet blog Bautawitch . The reason I needed a storage basket is because I have a new craft shelf in my livingroom, and I thought a handmade basket would be perfect for this shelf. So, instead of having this horrible and not-so-organized corner of the livingroom...

 

...I decided to have a tall, narrow IKEA shelf (couldn't fit in a wider shelf ). I originally wanted a dark shelf that would blend in well with the wallpaper, but the only shelf available in the shop was a white version so white is what I came home with lol.

 

Then my creative sister helped me to cover some storage boxes with leftover wallpaper, so the shelf blends in pretty well in the end, anyway:

 

And on top of my new tall narrow shelf is my new homemade storage basket...

 

...which is far away from perfect but was really fun to crochet:)

I've also been working on my left-over-yarn crochet blanket...

...which is coming along very nicely. My furbabies already love it and have tested the required cosiness of my new blanket:)

The only stitching I've done lately is on the PS Santas...

 

...but I'm afraid the progress isn't too impressive.

 

I'm not sure how much stitching I'll get done in the coming week, since I'm finding it hard to put down my crochet hook at the moment...:)

 

Happy crafting!

 

Annie

 

 

Birthday cards delivered!

Hello Everyone!

Over the weekend I've been stitching some birthday cards for family and friends who have birthdays around this time.

For my wonderful sister I stitched this card...

...and from a dear friend I made this card:

 

Both charts are from Enjoy cross stitch hearts & flowers (Spring 2012).

 

From Enjoy cross stitch House to home (Spring 2013) I picked this chart...

 

 

...and turned it into a card for an animal lover. I'm sure the recipient loves bees too lol.

 

I also stitched this freebie bookmark...

 

 

 ...from Cross Stitcher issue 269 as a birthday gift for the same animal lover. And I know for a fact that she had a pet bird at one time lol:)

 I often find that I'm close to running out of the provided threads when I stitch freebies, but in this case I'm pretty sure that I have enought threads left to stitch the cute bird design once again:) And since it was a fun stitch, I'm sure I will!

 

Although I have one more gift to work on, I must get back to the PS Santas. My Santa stitching buddy Gominam is speeding along with hers so I need to catch her up lol. Check out her wonderful progress while I get going on mine:)

 

Happy Stitching!

 

Annie

Potholder and cute freebie!

Hello Everyone!

Hope you're all well?
I've had a good week including a nice visit to the movies (My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2) as a birthday treat for my sister.
I have been stitching too but I can't show you what yet:(
What I CAN show you is a potholder that I'm crocheting:

In general I'm not a 'beige' fan, but I've fallen in love with this particular colour-combo! I just love the general vintage feel of it:)

 

Today I also received my montly Cross Stitcher magazine, and it had a really cute freebie gift with it:

 

So sweet and definitely on my never-ending stitching-to-do list:)

I'll be back with some more stitching updates soon, and I hope you'll all have a nice stitchy weekend:)

Annie

A quick update:)

Hello Everyone:)

I tried to write a post last night but I was way too tired and cold-ridden that I'm not sure what I did exactly... I clearly didn't post anything anyhow lol!

So today I'll try again:)

Luckily my cold hasn't stopped me from stitching, so my PS Santas are coming along nicely...

...and Christmas Tree Farm has some more Christmas trees...

...and a cute fox:)) I just love the precious little details on this piece!

I have also stitched a PS piece for the Christmas Ornie SAL ...

...although I'm a month late with this one:) Better late than never, right lol?

I'll leave you for now with a fun pic of my smallest furbaby...

Happy Stitching!

Annie

Prarie Schooler starts:)

 Hello Everyone!

Just a quick note to show you my start on my Prarie Schooler charts:) I'm having a rough week healthwise, but I have managed to stitch a little bit inbetween aches and pains and sneezes...

First up is my start on Christmas Tree Farm...

I really love this project, and I'm already fallen in love with the reindeer lol.

Secondly, I have also started on my PS Santas...

...and since I'm stitching them alongside Gominam at Stitch Niche , I decided to stitch them all together like she's doing:)
I have three PS Santas (1999, 2004, 2006) so far, but I hope I'm going to be able to order some more soon so I can start stitching the top left corner too:)

Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I will feel well enough during the weekend so I can get lots more stitching done! I just don't need any other bugs than the stitching bug lol.

Happy Stitching´!

Annie

A Cosy Happy Dance!

Hello Everyone!

 

So, before I get stuck into my Prarie Schooler stash, I decided to actually finish a project:)

Just to make me feel just a little less guilty about starting yet more projects lol! And what project could be better than my Cosy cushion that I worked on before I ran out of threads. Obviously the needed thread colours were in my new thread stash, so with everything needed at hand I dug through my pile of WIPs to find it and get started before the weekend.

 

Before I show you my pictures I want to remind you of what the original cushion looked like:

 

It's from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 301, and it is designed by Felicity Hall. I REALLY liked the phrase on the cushion, but I wasn't so keen on the colours she had used. Therefore I exchanged them for more pinks and purples (my favorite colours). Let me know if you want the exact thread colour I used and I'll do an extra post on them. I also decided to use 11-count aida to make the cushion cover a bit bigger.

So this is as far as I had stitched when I ran out of hot pink:

As well as using other colours than the originals, I decided to play around a bit with the motifs. I added some more cute snowflakes for example. I also decided to stitch a more prominent border.

So that meant that when my version of the Cosy cushion was done, it looked like this:

 

I'm very happy with my work, and I am definitely happy that I did a bit more with the border! I do love the pom-poms trims they have added to the original cushion, and I think I have some black pom-pom trims I can add to the cushion when I sew it together:)

 

But that will have to wait for a bit; now I really want to get stuck into my PS stitching. I actually have made a little start on a chart, but now Gominam at Stitch Niche has suggested that I start stitching my PS Santas like she is, so that we can cheer each other on:) That sounds like a lot of fun so I might have to do that, although she is bound to finish her Santas well, well before me lol!

Now I wish you all a very stitchy week to come. Myself, I'm off to do some more Happy Dancing!

Annie

Happy days!

Hello Everyone!

Today I received my new stash!!! I was thrilled to bits to receive it so quickly; the delivery time was said to be 2-4 weeks but I got it in less than two weeks:) They must have known how desperate I've been to get my new charts and threads LOL!

So of course you  want to know what was in the parcel, right?! And of course I can't wait to show you LOL!
First of all I ordered some DMC threads.

Threads so I can finish some WIPs, and threads for some new projects:) Even though I knew that I needed more than one skein of some colours, I decided to order just one of every shade. Then I can at least make a start on my projects, and hopefully I can afford to order more threads as and when I need them.

Then I just had to order some more aida fabric in some gorgeous colour. Here in Sweden it is very difficult to get hold of colored aida, so this time I picked a lovely piece of lime green aida which I can't wait to use:) I tried to take a picture of it, but the photo wouldn't do it justice at all so you just have to imagine it lol.

Now on to the most exiting part of my new stash - my new charts!
Firstly I picked this chart by Ursula Michael:

I've seen these kind of charts around other cross stitching blogs and I really liked the look of them. And when I found this cross stitched themed one, I just had to have it!

But above all I wanted some Prarie Schooler charts, and I picked these books:

I just love them! And I also love that their blank and white charts are so easy to read! Normally I prefer coloured charts, but when they are as clear as the PS charts I have no problem whatsoever with black and white ones:)
I also bought the PS Santa from 2006 since I really liked the sewing theme:

This means that together with the two Santas that were gifted to me by the lovely Brigitte, I now have THREE PS Santas...

...and I hope to collect even more red cuties:))

I'm just soo happy about my new stash, and I can't wait to start some new projects (and perhaps finish a few WIPs)! The only thing that remains doing is to decide which PS book I'm going to pick first...
Any suggestions??

Happy Stitching Everyone!
Over here I can see a Prarie Schooler weekend coming up lol!

Annie

Easter crafts

Hello Everyone!

 

I hope all is well and that you've all had a nice Easter:))

 

I've spent a lot of time with my family during Easter, which has meant that I've had to make some Easter Cards for my loved ones. For my dad and his wife I made this card:

 

Perhaps not as Eastery as it could be, but at least it has lovely spring colours:)
I also stitched this decorative heart for my dad...

...which says 'Loved Dad' in Swedish.

For my mum who loves bright colours I put together this card...

...and for my brother-in-law's parents I made this card:

I also received a couple of Easter cards from my sister - well, what can I say, I'm the kind of sister who deserves TWO Easter cards lol! This is the first one I received on Easter Friday...



Glad Påsk - Happy Easter in Swedish:)

...and it came in a cute envelope made out of notepaper. My sister told me that she realised when she made her cards that she didn't have any envelopes to put them in, so she started to play around with a paper and came up with this solution...

Trust my creative sister to make something so nice out of nothing lol. I put my Easter card on my Easter shelf, which for once also had beautiful tulips that I received from my grandma:)

On Easter Saturday I also received this very pretty Easter egg card, and I love...

...the pretty colours and the white feather. Soo cute! This card will definitely be saved in my Easter box and brought out in future Easters to come:)

I haven't stitched much lately and it is not that I haven't wanted to, but that I've struggled to find time. Sometimes I've just been too tired, and other times I've been busy baking for myself to save money, or seeing my friends. I don't know about you other stitchers, but when I get tired I just can't stitch. It is just too difficult for my tired brain to keep up with a chart and move the needle repetitively up and down through the fabric. It always ends with my eyes closing heavily and my head nodding off to the side...
I must say that I feel a bit frustrated about my limited stitching time right now, but I hope that I'll find some time soon to bury myself in a cross stitch project. And hopefully that time coincides with the much awaited arrival of my Prarie Schooler charts I have ordered lol!

Happy Stitching!

Annie

I'm soo excited...!

Hello Everyone!

I've had nice quiet week which thankfully meant lots of time for stitching. Instead of working on a large piece though, I felt like stitching some smalls. Here are a couple of them finished:

They are from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 301 (designer: Fiona Crouch), and the best thing about these designs is that the threads were provided as a freebie gift with the magazine! Hopefully I can turn these into some nice gifts for birthdays and Christmas:)

However, the most exciting thing that has happened this week is that I have finally placed an order for a couple of Prarie Schooler charts and some other stash!!! Thanks to a month with slightly more money left over, I jumped at the chance to buy some more charts! Of course I went a bit crazy when ordering (why pay for postage more than once lol??), so the rest of the month will be a struggle financially...but I just don't care! I just can't wait to get my hands on the charts, and I order some threads too so I can start stitching at once and also finish my Cosy cushion:) The next few weeks will certainly drag before I get my treasures LOL!

Hope you're all finding some time for stitching this weekend!

Annie

A visit to Christmas Town

Hello Everyone!

Hope you're all well:)

Over here in Sweden the snow is melting away and the temperatures are creeping above zero degrees. I have yet to see any spring flowers though, and it seems way too early for Easter in a couple of weeks.

My life has continued to be filled with far too many little things like laundry days, baking (to save money) and precious time with my friends and family. Although some of it have been nice things, I have still felt frustrated that I haven't had time to do other things I enjoy such as following my favorite blogs or stitching on my favorite projects. Therefore I am determined that this week will be devoted to my stitching and blogging, thus also giving me time to relax and de-stress.

This means that I sadly haven't got much stitching progress to show you. I've only worked on Christmas Town (by Emma Congdon). This is where I was when I picked it up last week:

After a few hours stitching here and there over the last seven days I now find myself here:

Some more outlined buildings and the top border of the sky, as well as some more green on the Xmas tree... I did another colour swap though. The beige colour used in the magazine just seemed too dull to me, so I decided to use a more creamy offwhite (see the clock tower). Luckily I didn't have to do too much frogging, and I'm much happier with the new shade. Overall it doesn't feel like much progress, but I really hope to stitch much more on this project in the upcoming weeks:))

Since I haven't got more stitching to show you today, I'll leave you with pics of my precious grey-haired ten-year-old furbaby...

 ....and my other two four-legged troublemakers!

To the right side of my furbabies you can - just about - see some of my (unorganized) crafty stash pile which hopefully will find its way onto a new craft shelf soon - about time I'd say too lol.

Happy Stitching!

Annie