A Beastie at mine

Hello, my friends!

I think that you have noticed that I didn’t talk about my BM’s Christmas gift in my last post… That is because I didn’t craft him anything… I asked a friend to do it for me… that because I have seen this post a long time ago and I said to myself that this could have been a perfect for him!

So I wrote to Helen from Crowcrafts Beasties and asked her if she was avaiable for this project… AND SHE WAS!!!

So, after an hideous and long journey, our new family member was dropped on the the doorstep on December 30th, on my BM’s birthday… What a perfect timing!!!

Our Dr. Who made himself at home immediately…

…. and found his favourite place ….

He has a passport…

… and he carries the Sonic Screwdriver…

And what to say about the Tardis… ????

AWESOME!!! Simply AWESOME!!

I do not know how to describe Helen’s work… it is neat, well finished, you have that clear feeling that she put her heart in it… every single detail is at its place! My MB and I, we felt so well while opening Helen’s parcel… So, my dear friend, thank you a lot! My BM appreciated your creature and its space time vessel so much indeed and thank you for the Beastie calendar and the lovely postcard too, they were a really beautiful and unexpected surprise.

Have a happy and crafty week everybody!!

Love

xxx

Tajana

Advertisement

I’m still here

Hello, my dear friends!

Yes, I am, I’m still here! I have been neglected the blog for a while and that because I’m on a big delay with my Christmas gifts cratfing… Oh, well, I will be able to make everything on my “to do” list but I’m not sure if I will have the scarf I want to knit for me before Christmas…. I hope a miracle will happen but I’m affraid it will have to wait until next year…

Oh, never mind, here are my latest FO…

An off the scedule hat for my BM…

The pattern is the same I used for my hat, the Cabled Hat by Debbie Bliss.

My Mother in law Stone Tulip Shawl

I have to admit that I like it a lot!

The Lace Scarf for my Mum

I followed this pattern and even if it is in Finnish it is easy to understand.

All the gifts for the ladies are done and now it is gentlemen’s turn…

Socks, socks, socks!!!

I have started with my Father in law…

…. and I’m going on with my brother’s pair…

Oh, I feel I’m working so slowly….

Some more Christmas tree ornaments are ready too….

Making all those things by hands… Insanity! That’s the most suitable term to describe how I’m feeling in these days!

So…. since the last few months were so discouraging because a lot of bad things had happened (Brexit, Trump president of the USA, Italy stroken by two terrible earthquakes…. I stop here!) I’d like to share with you some random photos of this still beautiful autumn…

Places we have been….

Garda

Garda

Garda

Lazise

Verona

Verona

My dears, enjoy and relax! Of course, if you have time for 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

Bye!!

Ponti sul Mincio (… yes, I love to make selfies 🙂 )

Love

xxx

Tajana

A Kind of Gardening and New Yarn

Hello,my friends!

I’m glad that I can tell you that the weather is better now here in Italy. Well, it is still quite hot but the humidity level is a bit lower and I can be active as my usual at last 🙂 As the temperature lowered down I took the chance to clean our home and to cut the grass in the kind of ridiculous garden we have… it is a 4×4 m square of open space which I’m totally unable to cultivate not because I have no time but because I kill all the plants I try to grow by my simple gaze! It is a kind of super power which unfortunately does not work on weed…. so to clean up our garden I used a sickle and sweated for two hours… but I did a quite acceptable work for my Big man and my standard…

I told to my Big man that I have no problems with works which require physical force but I need him to help me with plant growing…. I know that I’m a plant killer but he still didn’t try to grow anything… maybe he will be more successful than me….

But,please please please,let’s change the topic and talk instead about something else like our last purchases… first of all, a ladder!! It was high time indeed and I’m happy that I was able to hang the curtain I sewed in the kitchen at last!! 😀 😀 😀

Two more curtains to go!! Well, I do hope that I’ll be able to decorate this house before we leave it for another one LOL Despite my sarcasm, I like the look of my kitchen and the efforts made to embellish it a bit more. Now it is time to add something colourful and I left my mind to muse about wildly…

The second purchase was yarn and I had for the first time ever my Big man coming in the yarn store with me… 🙂 🙂 🙂 Well, there was a specific reason for it! One among the most famous yarn stores in Parma was having a sale lately and I wanted to take advantage of that for the Christmas to do list. So I obliged my BM to come with me and help me chose the yarn for the family boys. They will all receive scarfs 🙂 and I’m quite happy about the money I saved thanks to the sales :), something like 50 €, without losing in quality 🙂 Almost all is merino, except one which is a mix of cotton and merino 🙂

I was already looking for some patterns on Ravelry and can’t wait to start these projects!! I love to work with merino,in my opinion it is the best yarn!! All the girls will have a bag and all the little ones will have a quilted blanket… I foresee some busy months…. I have only one problem… My Big man realized that yarn actually has a quite high cost and asked me to not spend so much money on him…. that’s not good because I was thinking about making him a sweater with merino and the cost of the yarn is almost 80 €, the same I spent for the above yarn which is to be divided among five persons… what can I do instead of the sweater? Do you have any suggestion? I really don’t know what to do since I already knitted him a scarf, a beanie and two sweaters… I have even asked him if he would like to have a Dr Who’s scarf but he was honest and said that he would never wear it… so no colour, no yarn, then what??? I’m really in trouble!!!! Any advice is higly appreciated ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ Thank you so much!!!

Love

xxx

Tajana

A day at home…

…. means….

(i) …. a bargain…

….the curtains for our new home which original cost was around 70 € per meter and which I paid 9 € per meter. Since I learnt to sew straight seams (see my totes….) I thought that I could be able to sew courtains too. I was sweating cold because I knew that curtain fabric costs a lot but did’t even dream it could be so awfully lot…. the average price is around 70 – 80 € per meter… So when the owner of my Mum’s favourite fabric store showed me this job lot I bought it immediately. Well, not exactly immediately because I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing so I called my Mum in law…. and when she told me that I will never ever find a better price for curtains of good quality as the above one, I purchased them in the very moment I stopped talking with her. I had to call her instead of asking my Mum because I need an ally with my Big man who has no idea about home decor prices and to whom 120 € for courtains could sound so very expensive…. Yeah, you understood it right, the whole house curtains for 120 €…. I’m very satisfied and will buy more in a second time if I’ll find a similar bargain. It’s always a good thing to have some spare curtains at home, don’t you think?Can’t wait to sew them and put them on!!!

What do you think, my friends? Do you like my purchase and do you think I did the right thing!! I have never ever bought curtains before so I feel I did well and can’t deny that I feel quite proud of myself 🙂

(This blog is becoming a self celebrating place…hmmmm…. it’s high time to calm down a bit…. )

(ii) …. a secret crochet project….

…. nothing to tell about that except that a single ball of yarn can give a big satisfaction…. and yeah, the light blue has a reason…. but more when the gift will be at its recipient’s…. 🙂

Off to packing my stuff!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Love

xxx

Tajana

I feel guilty…

… because only my Big man is working and because it is still a hard task to find a job for me nowadays … and even if I manage to save money by crafting (for ex. I was lucky because I had spent only 10 € for my tee yarn, 10 balls in total…. Katia had it on sale…) and I’m very careful about spending it (like buying boots which I will wear for the next three or four years – because I always wear the same shoes and this is the period of my keeping them intact – for 87 € instead of 125 €…. ), I can’t avoid to feel guilty….  I feel guilty because I saw a larger sum than usual melted in my hands and today I bought a book for my own pleasure only …. for 16 € …..

Money well spent indeed… I know that many of you will agree with me, but I know that I will feel guilty for the next five or six days….

Oh, I wish life were a bit easier sometimes…..

Look, it’s growing… slowly…

Hello, my friends and happy Sunday!!

I’m spending the weekend alone which means that I have needles in my hands all the time….

….. and the tee is growing …. slowly…. veeeeeeeeeeeery slowly….

… I’m almost there…. two more cotton balls and it will be FO….

…. something like two days of knitting…. can’t wait….. !!!!

In the meantime I have done some shopping….

…. no I’m not a high heels kind of girl…. I’m more a boot like…. yeah, mine are all of the same type….

…. and I’ve tried a new recipe for a super quick apple pie, an easy one given by my friend Katia who said me that her Grandmother used to bake it….

…. it’s delicious, so perfec to cheer up my lonely days… 🙂 Would you like a piece? Come along and take one! I’ll make some tea too, or you prefer coffee? 🙂 🙂 🙂 There’s both at mine 🙂 🙂 🙂 …

Have a nice evening!

Love

xxx

Tajana

Back home…

… from Lucera…. and guess what…? Since my Big man’s flat is a kind of pied-à-terre, there was no TV, no internet connection (save my smartphone…), no Parma friends for an happy hour…. and what can you do when you find yourself in THAT situation….??? Well…

…. first of all, you can go out and make new friends 🙂 🙂 🙂 …. this is basic!

…then…

…. you can easily knit, wrapped in a cozy blanket and wearing funny socks…. you don’t feel lonely that way 😉 …

….. making a great WIP progress….

…. you can take selfies,just because….

…. and can hop around shopping nice goodies….

I have found a pattern for a beautiful sweater, just perfect for my Big man…..

My to do list is always so full of projects…. but I simply can’t resist to this nice garment… I see already my companion wearing it….

🙂 🙂 🙂

Love

xxx

Tajana

Duplicate stitch

Hello, my friends!

Are you spending some good time this weekend? What are you crafting right now? I saw that there is a lot of snow around Europe (except here in Parma, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…… ) so I suppose that you’re cozy wrapped in your favourite blanket and easily snuggled on the sofa with a hot good cup of tea to warm you more….. oh, what a beautiful image….

Me…. well,I’m happy spending my time at home waiting for my Big man coming home from a work lunch and in the meanwhile I’m struggling with some yarn that I dislike indeed…. well,it happens sometimes that you have an unexpected project…. I have to face one of them right now but can’t tell you anything about because it’s a birthday pressie…. The yarn…. oh,it was not my choice because it’s a pressie made with others….. I’m a bit irritated since my opinion wasn’t taken into consideration at all when it was purchased and now I have to work it and trasform something so very old fashioned into something trendy…. Yes,I’m quite nervous and snarly because of that…. so, just to please my curiosity and the will to learn something new, I knitted a coaster and tried the duplicate stitch….

This is a small insignificant project but I think that,in the future, I will develop this technique quite a lot…. I have already an idea in my mind….. but now…. BACK TO WORK!!!

Love

xxx

Tajana

That’s why….

…. I should never go shopping….

There’s anything else to be said….