Wundertüte

When Aaron was a newborn baby someone gave me a cotton kicking bag for him which was open at the feet. I really liked it. Aaron could enjoy his naked feet, feel snuggled up and diaper changes were a quick thing.

For his sister I wanted to knit something simular, but with a hood, for the very first weeks and so I came up with my own first knittig pattern I called Wundertüte. A Wundertüte in Germany is like a surprise bag, filled with candy and small toys.

I want to share the notes with you but I am not sure I wrote them very correctly yet. If you tried the pattern and have any questions or suggestions, please help me to improve the pattern so it will help others too.

Since the baby is only due in March I asked Charly, Aarons doll, to help me out as a model. He is doing a fine job don't you think?

Pattern notes: 

Use any yarn you like that is fine for needle size 5mm/ US 8. I used some handspun goodness my sister gave me, because it was quite thin I knitted it double stranded.

Cast on 82sts, join in round, k1, p1 for 6 rounds, circumference of cuff appr. 22".

In the next round increase sts to 98 sts by kfb every 5 sts (increase 16 sts in total)

Continue in rounds until piece messures 14". 

For collar and hood start working in stockinett rows back and forth (knit one row, purl one row) for another 3".

Decrease row 1: k2, k2tg, continue til end of row, purl row

Decrease row 2: k3, *k2tg, k1, continue from * till las 3 sts, k3. You should have 47 sts in total now.

Continue Stockinett for another 4,5".

Use stitchmarker to mark next purl round: p5, pm, p22, pm, p22, pm, p5.

Next knit row decrease like this: k5, ssk, k until 2sts before marker, k2tg, k3, ssk, knit until 2 sts before marker, k2tg, k5. Purl next row.

Repeat the last two rows until the 22 sts between each marker have decreased to 3 sts. Decrease these 3 sts to one sts by slipping two sts together as if knitting, k1, lift last two slipped sts over that knitted sts. 15 sts remaining in total. Pull yarn through last 15 sts and close top tightly.

Pick up 74 sts around the hood starting and ending at the collar opening. Do not join them in round. K1P1 back and forth for 4 rounds, Cast off loosely.

Pick up two sts for i-cord each side of the collar, Knit i-cord depending on how long you want it to be. I didn't want to use a button so it is really safe for the baby and nothing can be swallowed.

Ravelry link here.

This is a copywritten pattern, please do not sell this pattern, you may sell items knitted from this pattern providing that I, Gesche Ahlers@Kirschenzeit  am credited and linked as the designer.

Yarn along - Imagining Winter

While outside the sky is covering this part of the world with clouds as grey as the citys concrete and rain is filling the rivers to the brim, I am dreaming of snow and clear blue skies and fresh crispy air. As long as that is not happening I have started to create my own litte winter world:
While the last bits if christmas decorations are nicely tucked back into the cellar boxes, little Snowdrops are have been placed on sills and tables and snowflakes have started to cover the windows, at least from the inside. Inspiration for the snowflakes I got in a German magazin called "Landlust". Such a simple way to winter up, just drawn with a piece of curd soap and very easy to remove.

 And there is still that book with me at all times. "The Snow Child" Lori has been talking about a while ago when she returned from Alaska. I am taking extra long to finish this, because it fits my mood so well and I want to treasure the beauty I find on each page. Its been a while since I read a book as wonderful as this one. To not finish it too fast there is enough time for some baby (or acctually toddler) knits, some more free style babylegs and this tunic that I have wanted to make even before I knew I would get a girl. Just wondering when it will fit her but she will grow into it eventually I guess...

In the meantime I keep looking up to the sky hoping for that snow still, someone mentioned next weekend, oh my, how sweet that would be.

I am joing Ginny for Yarn Along today.

Weekending in the rain

Today I am joing Amanda from "the habit of being" for weekending

Somewhere I read today is the 15th of July. I had to read it twice and still can't believe it. It is raining and raining and raining and the temperatures stay around 15°C/ 60°F. So coats, wellies and the like are in daily use. Aaron has not complained about it yet, he doesn't mind if he plays in a puddle or a pool. So I guess I am the only one being unflexible here...

I adjusted by starting to crochet. Little blossoms agains the disaster in my little outside garden (even the mint has drowned!) Finally I know how to use up all my bits and pieces of handspun yarn. Both yarns are made from the fibre I dyed at the workshop the other weekend (yellow with onion skin, red with madder). If you like I can send you a handfull, just let me know in the comment which color you'd like or if you want a mix of both. (I will choose a winner randomly if more of you are interested ;-) )

One of the blossoms I used for another project of this rainy weekend, the birthday crown of my friends daughter Lola (the one you see playing with Aaron in the first picture) Aarons crown is also in the making, his birthday is coming up end of August... My idea is, to keep the crowns rather simple this year and add a little extra detail to it each birthday so by the time they are grown up they have a fully decorated crown with lots of memories of every single birthday. That should be a lovely family tradition I hope.

Besides the usual playground outing we did a little extra trip yesterday and went for a visit to Cologne Airport. A great activity on rainy days! Some half hour train ride, long indoor corridors to run in freely, lots of cafés and a terrace to watch the planes landing and starting. I can really recommend this outing!

I already mentioned the playground visits, but did you ever see a playground with kids paintings pinned to the trees? Isn't that a wonderful thing! How generous and creative, just what I needed to complete this wet but somehow perfect weekend.

I hope your weekend was less rainy and equally fun! I would love to hear about it!

Gut Ding will Weile haben

"Gut Ding will Weile habe" we say in German for things, that have taken a long time but somehow turn out well in the end. Leo translates it to "Haste makes waste". The plan to make a quilt from my late grandmothers aprons (I showed them here) has been in my mind for a good while now, supported by the wonderful Barbara, who sent me a copy of an american quilting magazin for beginners. I must say that this really kicked me to keep it up, but also knocked me down a bit after I found out that some utensiles are really helpful and nessecary to start quilting. I had none of that. But, with financial support (indirectly also from my grandmom, because my granddad had shared some of her money with us) I ordered the missing pieces (mat and cutter) and yesterday night I did it! Well, I am not finished yet, but for some reason, this is one of the few projects I don't mind about how long it might talk. It just feels sooooo good to worship something my grandmother used to wear on a daily basis and upcycle it into something else.

I am even using some old thread I have found in my grandmothers sewing basket. I was so happy when I thought about it in time for the project. What else would it be better to use it for.
Acctually I am not quite sure yet, what the quilt will end up as, a wall hanging, a small blanket or a pillow cover. I am doing it step by step, holding fabric pieces, choosing carefully what piece to place where. There is no plan, no exact aim. I am floating and savoring every moment of working at this project.

That is how I decided to use the button lines as well, and some part of a pocket. It just happend, it just felt right.
To not overwhelm the pattern I added some plain linen (from Ikea). I think it matches the vintage style. Into the centre of the quilt I printed my very favourite picture of my grandparents, riding a camel in Tunisia on one of their many trips around the world.

My plan is to give the finished quilt to my grandfather for his birthday in August. I am just not sure if he can take it, we'll have to see.

I never expected quilting to be so much fun, if there wasn't all that spinning, knitting, gardening, blogging, playing, baking, loving to do (and a wee bit of working too) I would do it all day long ;-)

Birthday crafting

I try to sneak in some crafting at any time, but sometimes weeks pass by without any. One thing that always makes me start again are upcoming birthdays. I just love giving (and recieving) homemade things, even if its just something small adding to a bought gift. Sometimes I end up preparing the present the night before. Like yesterday. Fortunatly Aaron was still up and helped me out.  He painted this thrifted bowl in my friends favorite color and I turned it so the color would end up all around... I really like the way it worked out. First I wanted to add different colors but then I though weniger ist mehr as we say in German ("less is more", do you say that in English too?) Aaron had anounced being finished anway (fertig! is one of the few words he speaks yet) and so he climbed down his chair the dirty brush still in his hands using it as a very good weapon against me to keep me from washing him, and the brush. You can imagine the mess... After burning the color into the bowl in the oven the next day, I filled it with cherries and roses ( I know, the colors don't exactly match but somehow I like mixing different reds) and off we went to my friends birthday party.

We had a lovely afternoon, except I reacted more allergic then ever to her cats. So we didn't stay too long. But it was good to see old friends again and meet new ones. My six year old godchild (the one you know from the photograph I toke right after his birth) gave our friend the best present ever. He was so so proud of his work that he praised it all afternoon and showed it to every new arrival. But, my, he was right to be proud. He made this huge, wonderful, impressive dragon and my friend pinned it right over her bed to be better protected from now on. Isn't it fantastic?

I placed an order with him for my upcoming birthday. Let's hope I am lucky...

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Some rainy Sunday - Ein verregneter Sonntag

We woke up to rain. Not just some rain, it came pouring down. And it wasn't going to stop. Our initial plans of spending the day outside in a park at a circus festival were drained. 

Es regnete in Strömen als wir heute Morgen das erste Mal aus dem Fenster schauten und nun, viele Stunden später, tut es das immer noch. Das Gauklerfest in einem Park, zu dem wir eigentlich hatten gehen wollen fiel leider ins Wasser.  

Instead there was some indoor football (not much longer of that, his kicking is getting stronger by the day), knitting and singing. Finally I also found time to try my new cutter, dear what a difference it makes to my old, blunt sciccors. And I wrote that poem onto a cup with a very fine porcelain marker. Somehow I like it.

Stattdessen wurde Wohnzimmer-Fussball gespielt (allerdings nicht mehr lange, seine Schüsse werden langsam ziemlich kräftig), gestrickt und gesungen. Ich habe auch endlich die Zeit gefunden, meinen neuen Rollschneider (hab gerade keine Ahnung wie das Ding offiziell heißt) auszuprobieren. Was für ein Unterschied zu meiner alten stumpfen Schere. Und dann habe ich noch das Gedicht mit einem sehr feinen Porzellan-Marker auf eine Tasse geschrieben. Irgendwie gefällt mir das.

Then I found out that Lori is back from Namibia and we spend a long time watching lots of breathtaking pictures on her blog. Welcome back dear Lori! So good to hear from you again and take part in your beautiful adventures. Aaron was very exhited about your pictures too :-)

Same, same but different...

Ich muss gestehen, ich träume schon lange von einem wunderschönen, handgetöpferten Geschirrservice. Einheitlich, schlicht, schön und doch jedes Stück individuell. Leider ist Töpfern immer etwas kompliziert, da man ja auch eine Gelegenheit zum Brennen braucht, und überhaupt muss man das erstmal so richtig können. Naja, jedenfalls, bisher sieht es in unserem Geschirrschrank noch so aus, wie zu meiner Studentenzeit in der WG. Alles ist bunt durcheinander gewürfelt und aus den unterschiedlichstens Perioden meines Lebens. Hat auch was schönes, wenn ein Geschirrschrank Geschichte erzählt. Das soll er ruhig auch weiter tun. Trotzdem, so ein schönes Set für besondere Momente und Gäste ist ein Herzenswunsch. Bis der in Erfüllung geht habe ich aber nun eine andere Lösung gefunden, inspiriert von der wunderbaren JenMun(a), deren handbemaltes Geschirr mich in seiner Schlichtheit einfach verzaubert hat. Zunächst wollte ich mal ein Set Tassen haben die zusammen passen. Ich fand auch direkt die passenden weißen Tassen, groß und trotzdem mit einem dünnen Rand, genau so, wie ich es mag.

Dann haben Aaron und ich erstmal die Porzellanmarker ausprobiert und haben zwei alte kleine Tassen damit bemalt die ich noch rumstehen hatte. Sehr originelles Design ist draus geworden :-)

Für die richtigen Tassen habe ich mir dann bei Pinterest noch viel Inspiration geholt. Und bin dann auch fündig geworden. Leider kann ich für das Bild keine Quelle finden, da der Link nicht funktioniert, sonst hätte ich gerne dem Urheber Kredit gezollt.

Vor dem entgültigen Design habe ich noch viel herumprobiert und mit Farben experimentiert. Letztlich ist das Türkis mit dem Marker entstanden, das Grau aus Schwarz-Weiß Mischungen aus dem Töpfchen mit Farben die ich noch hatte: 

Mal sehen, vielleicht stelle ich mir so nach und nach ein ganzes Service zusammen...

P.S. Not joining Ginnys for Yarn Along today, since there was not a lot of knitting going on last week. Instead I designed my own mugs. I am still dreaming of my own, hand pottered dishes, maybe one day I will own it but until then I want to at least serve coffee in simular mugs from now on...

And how do you like this old and redesigned teapot I found in a store for handmade items last week? It looks almost like a doodle with a marker and it's brilliant I think! I really have to start looking for plain thrifted dishware.

Sewing Season

Something had to be done about my thread spools. They kept twisting and knotting and unwinding in the box I stored them in. They made me not want to do any sewing. Pinterest helped again! I saw a very inspiring picture of a thread holder which strangly enough turmed out to be by my africa traveling friend Lori. How small this creative blogging world can be at times... Anyway, Loris picture made me remember one of the driftwoods board I found at the shore back in March. And it was finally brought to use by piercing it with very, very many nails. Aaron wanted to sit on my lap the whole time, so nailing was a little challenging...

But we made it!

And I am very happy with the result.

May I introduce you to me precious little sewing space? We live in a rather small rented apartment of 64 qm ( 689 sf ) and I am so happy to have this little space to myself, always set up and ready to sew (except when it is very unorganized). You can see Nathans working out zone being right next to it...

The yellow drawing of a person is me, drawn by one of my clients, so well captured I must say!

It was about time I prepared my sewing space as some presents needed to be whipped up soon. The first thing that got done was a tool belt for a newly four year old busy worker (a friends son). Aaron didn't want to try it in so some drift wood had to do the job.

And my mum finally got her belated Mother's Day present, a Burlap Garden Trug, designed by Maya and shown in the first issue of Taproot. Oh how I love that magazine!

Now, after the first fast projects, I feel ready to get started on my much thought about and never actually begun quilt made from my grandmums old aprons (btw the belt on the tool bag is a belt from one of her aprons). And Barbara sent me a wonderful push up so, it has to be done, no more excuses! If you don't see any results in the next week or so, please keep pushing me!

Yarn Along - Cover up your needles!

Knittin and reading. My favourite things to complete a perfect day. So I am joining Ginny on Wednesdays for Yarn Along to share my passions with you. Come and join in if you like!

Last week there has not been too much knitting but I finished the first sock that I showed you last time. The one here is the second one but I forgot to take a picture of the finished sock although the colorway is very interesting and worth showing... Sorry about that. I will show you the finished pair soon, hopefully... 

Today I want to show you something else though, I prepared a little tutorial for you, because yesterday I got tired. Tired of loosing the stitches off my needles all the time. That happens because I carry my knitting with me all day in a small bag that is getting draged in and out of my backpack constantly. And at home there is this very vital toddler... 

I needed something to cover my needles. And I needed it soon. It was night and there was no way I way going to do any shopping to solve the problem. So some upcycling it was:

I needed some material that would be strong enough to stop the needles from poking through it yet flexible enough to cover them and keep them together. That's when I remembered the broken tire from my last bike repare. Lucky me... But you can basically use any strong flexible material such as leather, tarpaulin etc.

I cut two 5" (12 cm) from the tire and opend them on one side.

Then I used a round item to draw a circle of 3" (7,5 cm) onto the tire and cut it. Repeat with the second piece.

I marked twelve spots (like a clock) and pinched holes through the tire pieces.

For the next step I used two strong elastic strapes (the blue one in the first picture turned out to not be strong enough but I found some brown left overs) and pulled each of them halfway through the holes as shown in the picture. Repeat the same with the second circle.

I fixed the elastic with a knot at both ends pulling the circles together as good as I could.

Last I tied the two pieces together. The length of the elastic should depend on the size of your needles. The elastic should be under tension when on the needles. Done! Such a fun way to upcycle!

I hope my tutorial was helpful for you.

 Oh, and I almost forgot, of course there has been some reading, even a lately rather rare visit to library in fact with some good outcome. A book about dying with natural colors, a knitting book for women of weight which I was very, very happy to find in the library as it has been on my waiting list at Amazon for month now and an easy reading murder mystery (only available in German) located in Brittany/ France which I read on my train ride to work these days. All of them make me happy on different levels, just like knitting different projects at the same time for different ocassions. You know what I mean, right?

But for now, I will hop over to Ginny and see what you have been up to last week. I see you around!

Happy Knitting!