Donnerstag, 10. Februar 2011

Long Mohair Vest

This vest was knitted from very very sof kid mohair yarn and gold lurex thread for the body and can be worn as a dress also with black leggins and boots. I had asked my dear friend Annemarie to model for me in order to put the vest in my DaWanda Shop, but she decided to keep it for herself ;-) To be honest, I knew she would love it... Thank you for the pictures!

Montag, 7. Februar 2011

Fabulous Sunset...


... and a crescent moon.

My New Hobby: Freeform Crochet

I can't remember exactly where I saw the first picture of freeform crochet, but I was immediately obsessed. Irregular design, colourful yarns and patterns that look like taken from nature - I had to try this! Not knowing anything at all about the history and the background of this art, which is almost unknown here in Germany I bought a book with instructions from Renate Kirkpatrick, and it turned out to be just perfect, because it explains really everything from the first stitch and a couple of other techniques like felting. So, if you are still looking for something to get literally hooked on go and get "Freeform Crochet and beyond".
My first hat may not be perfect, but it helped me to learn all the different sttches and techniques. My second work, a hood scarf, was a lot of fun. Every day I was looking forward to some free minutes to make another one of the small pieces in autumn coloursa and in shapes that reminded me a forest with fallen leaves, mushrooms, snails, moss and bark.
Then I sew together all the pieces using a simple paper pattern. I like the raw edges but in the front and right along the seam that surround the face I crocheted a few lines with a fringed yarn for more stability and a consistent look. Eh, voilà! This will not be the last piece for sure!

Flower Kindergarten

Today we had mild weather, this made me dream of spring... I planted seeds of some new flowers and some that I harvested from the garden last year. I'm not a gardening expert and so I kept the pictures of the flowers in order to know more or less how they will look like when big... I had kept egg cartons - these are useful because they are quite sturdy and waterproof to a certain extent. And you can plant them directly into the earth where they will dissolve.
I just realize that my window looks terribly dirty with the first tiny bit of sunshine... ok, this will be the next project ;-)

Samstag, 5. Februar 2011

Celebrating with cake "Poire-belle-Hélène"

We were celebrating the birthday of the best husband and daddy of the world ;-) with my favourite combination of chocolate and pears... and some whipped cream... yum! i love the colour combination, too...
For a really easy cake mix 4 eggs with 120 gr. sugar. Add 200 gr of butter and 300 gr. of flour with baking powder. This is the base where you add now ingredients for your taste! Here I put walnuts, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and dark chocolate cut into pieces. In the end I arranged three pears cut in slices on the dough.
Bake for 40 minutes and decorate with powdered sugar.

Dienstag, 1. Februar 2011

Winter Bliss

Although we are still in the heart of winter I always try to find something colourful to brighten up the short and grey days... One of my favourite is to cook blood orange preserve from Sicilian Moro oranges. They are available only in a very short period here i9n Germany, so as soon as I spot them in the supermarket I buy a lot to make them into wonderful preserve. In order not to waste much of the fruits I peel them and cook the whole pieces, not only the juice - this saves a lot of time!
And also this year I celebrate spring in my kitchen - with a branch of the pear tree in the back yard... The flowers will blossom soon!