A bit late but… Happy New Year

Hello, my dear friends!

A very happy new year to all of you!!! I wish you a lot of love, happiness, fun, WIPs, FOs and yarn!

How are you?

Did you have some good and cozy time spend in a good company of the loved ones? I truly hope you did and that the beginning of the year is exciting and satisfying!

It seems that 2017 is going to be a surprising year as 2016 was… Well, I can speak for the part of the world I’m living in since Italy is still stroken by strong earthquakes, fortunately far away from Peschiera del Garda, but which are causing so many tragedies. I do hope that Mother Nature will give a break to the population suffering this disater.

2017 is the year of my 40th birthday too. Whaaaaaaaaat??? Already?? But but…. I was a little girl only yesterday! I swear! IT WAS YESTERDAY!

Oh, I will tell a lie if I say that I’m not affraid of the time flowing by but on the other hand I feel so well! Life is treating me very well indeed and I’m so thankful for the chance I had to enjoy some very happy and rich moments despite all the adversities. I do hope that this will continue for a long time ahead…

I owe you some Christmas photos. As I tell you I knitted socks as Christmas gifts for the family men and here are some photos. It had taken me a month to finish all the pairs and I took photos only of some of them…

The project I’m most proud of is a two color stranded hat! I have to thank to a friend of mine for the help and the directions given! It had had a big success and, apart the two knitted for my nephews, I knitted two more of them commissioned by friends of mine.

This is a project I do love to knit so much! It is fun, lovely and so nice. The pattern I use is this one. 🙂

I crocheted a Sleepy Bear for my BM’s nephew 🙂

… and despite my perplexity about the color, the little chap likes to play with this crocheted guy :).

And here are all my gifts gathered together..

I can’t deny that there was a lot of stress about deadlines and the satisfaction of everyone’s desire, but everybody liked their pressie so I felt so very well after Christmas.

We had a handmade Christmas tree this year …

… and we have a new leafy friend to take care about…

A bonsai. A ficus tree…. purchased before Christmas and it is still alive! Yeah!!

To not be forgotten: would you like to make the lovely snowman from the upper picture? Click here 🙂 . And if you need the translation, I can ask the permission to the designer to translate her pattern.

What had happened more… let’s see… Oh,well, anything special… I’m back on my craft 🙂 🙂 🙂

My BM made me a nice gift…

Oh I almost forgot about a pre Christmas quick commission, a pair of mitts and a hat for a little nine months old girl…

… and I made myself Amabie…

I think that that’s it for now and that I didn’t forget anything. After holidays life has continued to flow in its usual way, I’m so happy about that, and I can tell that I have a lot to do. A commission, a gift exchange (Roma, I didn’t forget about, after the stole it is your turn 🙂 ), a hat and a scarf for my BM and a lot of accounting study…

So let us put on the go mode!

Love

xxx

Tajana

 

 

Salva

Salva

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Holiday fever! Already????!!!!

Hello, my dear friends!

Those of you who knows me best know very well my obsession with handmade Christmas gifts….  There’s no need to talk about that much… but did I tell you that I want to have a nice Christmas tree this year… ? Since I’m so insane, I’m not only crafting gifts, I’m making tree ornaments too….

I have a precise idea about how my tree should look like and I’m playing a lot with the hook and different kind of yarn. I’d like to have sparkling garlands, nice white snowflakes, macarons and some felted embroidered hearts…. Let’s see if I’ll be able to finish off all the ornaments in time…

In the meantime I have finished off, blocked and stored the stole I was making for one of my sisters in law…

This is Luule pattern by Susanne Visch and I love it a lot! The yarn I used wasn’t the best one I have ever knitted with but it was worth the effort. The colors of this stole are too bright, in my opinion, but are perfect for the lady it is meant to. And I’m happy I was able to store it at last!!

As you can imagine, a new project is on my needles which should be finished off in three or four days… The Stone Tulip Shawl for my Mother in law ….

What can I say… I can’t wait to have it finished off and blocked!!!!!

My Mother in law is going to have a small pressie before Christmas, though… three pot holders…

I’m not satisfied with the finishing of those, however. Sewing is still my weak spot which has to be improved a lot… Sometimes it happens that my projects turn out nice but sometimes they do not…. I have to work a lot on appliqués….

At last, I knitted myself a hat! It was a while that I wanted to make this for me, a pattern I saw for the first time on Sewchet’s blog…

This hat is perfect! I love this pattern very much and I love to wear it during our waks… By the way, we spent a few hours outdoors this weekend and here are some photos of the Lake seen from above!

I hope that you will enjoy this views!

I have to go now and have lunch ready!!

(Breathe, Tajana, breathe….)

Love

xxx

Tajana

October

Hello my dear friends!

Autumn is here! Already?! I don’t know how and why time flies so fast, maybe aging do not bring only wrinkles but it also changes our percepction of time flow… Well, I don’t care! At all! I love this time of year (this came with age for sure… 😛 ) for its colours, the need to gather in house and the pleasure to spend my evenings on the sofa watching television and knitting.

The walks in the mountains also become shorter and less frequent but they are still good and liberating. Here are some shuts from the Apennines.

I  particulary love the second photo of the first row…. It is quite poetic…

Spending time indoor and crafting are a perfect autumnal coefficient and I’m glad that I can show you some results of that sum…

A cozy hooded capelet

A friend of mine asked me to knit a hooded capelet for her daughter and I finished it off some days ago… I followed this pattern but I changed the lenght and the gauge. I used 8 mm needles and have to say that I love more those big cables instead the smaller ones…

The WIP

After have FO the red stole I have started a new one… This new one is also meant for one of my SILs… 🙂

I found a lovely pattern with which I fell in love so, despite the itchy and irritating yarn, I’m stubbornly  working on it.

The first of three beanies

From time to time I have to put aside this project though and make something quick with a yarn which caresses my hands. Merino for this purpose is great…

The beanie for my BM’s nephew is finished off 🙂 🙂 🙂 and I like the pompom quite a lot 🙂

A simple and easy pattern by Purl Soho but so lovely!! I adore Purl Soho’s projects. They are all so easy and fresh and modern and so IN and… and…. Just go and have a look!

Happy October and happy crafting!!

Love

xxx

Tajana

FOs and WIPs

Hello my dear friends!

Another post about Christmas gifts! Oh,please,try to stand me if you can… but this is that part of the year… the final crafty rush !!!

I start with the gift for the most important person of my life, my Big man…

Following this tutorial I made to my Big man an apron to add to the previously sewed messenger bag… Since he didn’t want me to knit him a sweater I had to find a solution for his Christmas gift and decided to make something he won’t never imagine to receive. I added a personal note to the apron….

Oh,he don’t like garments with writings so I had to camouflage my message 😀 😀 😀 and,no, we are not married but ‘I have the best companion on earth’ didn’t sound me good so I opted for ‘wife’ …. well, there’s a clear desire expressed in my words too and I hope that he will understand…. ( 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 I’m laughting because I know he wont…. ).

He has already received two pairs of socks and the cable scarf…. and under the three there will be the below goodies…. not bad… What do you think? Would your husbands like to have those goodies for Christmas?

🙂 🙂 🙂

I’m so happy that I can show you one of the embroideries I’m making for my friends since the receiver doesn’t have neither a FB nor an IG account… 🙂 And since I like poppies….

My friends can do with their embroideries whatever they want…. a bag, a frame, a pillow…. The others will be shown after the holidays 🙂

My FIL has his first sock ready ….

…. Rowan’s Fine Art is so soft…. thank you, Magliuomini!!!!

I’m so happy because I will finish Christmas my list soon, in a two weeks all the items should be ready…. well, at least the biggest ones… there’s a scarf for my brother to be finished off, now on my needles, the blanket for my younger nephew and the second sock for my FIL… I feel quite ok about, the buntings for the blanket are cut out, the scarf is made on 8 mm gauge needles and the second sock is going to be started tomorrow during a knit café organized by me here in Peschiera (I hope someone will come tomorrow….) .

My BM asked me to make something for his colleagues’ children so I made yesterday two small bags to fill with candies…

As you can imagine, the bird is for the girls and the dog for the boys! Well,I have to change the fabric for girls since the black colour isn’t the best choice I could eventually make but all in all the idea is nice. Quite quick too 🙂

That’s it for now, my friends! I have to run to the supermarket and pick up some groceries so…

I wish you a happy weekend and a lot of happy craft!! ❤ ❤ ❤

Love

xxx

Tajana

My first messenger bag and my first appliqué

Oh,yeah,I did it! I sewed the messenger bag for my Big man and started a new one for his sister…

I bought a nice fabric a while ago and I thought it perfect for a men’s bag…. oh, there was enough of it for another one and I thought it would be nice make a second one for my SIL but more girly, of course 🙂 . I find nice to use the same fabric for the sibilings and highlight this kin relationship in that way.

While my Big man’s bag is almost FO….

…. I have only cut out the outer part of the flap for my SIL’s bag and sewed on an appliqué…

Well, I’m pleased with how this two projects have turned out. I was worried about the flat sewing and application but everything went well. I didn’t sew the strap on my BM’s bag yet because I’d like to make it adjustable and I need some rectangle rings for that…. So when the second bag will be FO I’ll be heading to the shop with both and try to find something suitable… 🙂

Before I run away to craft (my God,I’m always in a kind of hurry lately…. ) without mention them, here are the links to the tutorials I followed to sew my messenger bags…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D7vYZI9bh8

http://bluebirdbaby.typepad.com/photos/messanger_bag_tutorial/dsc_0406—version-2.html

I wish you all a great day ❤ ❤ ❤

Love

xxx

Tajana

A bit of late crochet

I had a crochet phase today and it was so very relaxing indeed…. it is one of those super quick projects which gives you a great satisfaction….

It is Suzann Thompson’s Columbine and it is one of my favourite flower from her book … This is going to be the only decoration for my Mum’s bag…. Up till now the project looks nice LOL LOL LOL  …..the bag is still a piece of fabric though…. 😛 😛 😛

Wish you all a good nignt…

Love

xxx

Tajana

I’m Insane Indeed

Why…? Well, look at the following photos…

Try to guess what I’m crafting and why I feel madness has started to rule in my life …..

Love

xxx

Tajana

Christmas season 2015

My Christmas season has officially started today, August 2nd, with a scarf in a simple seed stitch…

This one is for my BM’s uncle. I started with this one because I’m a bit affraid to run out of yarn so have to have enough time to find something to add,just in case… 🙂 🙂 🙂

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

I gave a try to …

…the art of patchwork…

The lovely Sheila from Sewchet wrote a tutorial for a waterproof patchwork picnic blanket and I liked it a lot!! What a nice project for a beginner like me!!

I’d like to have one too to use like a rug in our living / crafting room and since I have a lot of fabric remnants I cut out the squares by using a cardboard template of the desired dimentions….

… and then I sewed them up, first in stripes….

…and then in a big patch 😀 ….

The only problem is that the seams do not correspond at all. I suppose that using a template and a pair of scissors is not the best to obtain patches of identical dimentions but I do not have the mat, the ruler and the rotaty cutter at mine and don’t want to buy them before seeing if I’m capable to sew a blanket without… Well,the big patch is quite neat though so I decided to continue with my project… I have to buy the wadding and the plastic coated tablecloth and was thinking about going for some shopping tomorrow in the morning,but I’ll see if there will be enough time since I have a lot to do at home… The only doubt I have is how to quilt since the seams are irregular… Well,I think I’ll ignore them and just sew straight following the square lines… I sincerely hope that my blanket will turn out well….

Love

xxx

Tajana