Wednesday 29 February 2012

Snorri


This is Snorri. I started him right after christmas and finished in time for the cold Canadian winter. Luckily that winter hasn't been too cold so far, but Snorri is thick and warm.
Snorri was inspired by another Snorri, made for my brother and "like a warm thick woolen blanket." My Snorri isn't quite as thick. The woman in the little wool store assured me it would be okay to knit with size 7 needles, even though the pattern called for 5's.


Some details of the neck and front cables. The cables were fun and made the knitting go quickly.




And here's the inspiration Snorri. Shot in front of the Canadian blue fir tree in Veenendaal.


Tuesday 28 February 2012

Dollhouse 2

The brick walls are up, I like the difference it makes when the bricks are mortared.
and the trees are planted.

Wednesday 22 February 2012

living room stripes

The kitchen had horizontal stripes, so the living room got vertical ones. We were going for café latte brown but it turned out more of a gold colour. Before that, the wall was pink, with flowers to match the lamp shade and chairs: you can see the wall in the background here and here.
What I especially like about this wall is the white wooden rim above the stripes: painted white, sawed to fit and nailed into place.

Sunday 19 February 2012

Laptop case

With a new laptop comes the challenge of creating a laptop case. A beautiful sweater Frances knit that tragically got shrunk and felted in the wash has been sitting in the attic for years. I've often wondered what I can use it for, would it make a jacket for a 10 year old child? But thats a long time to wait, plus the proportions didn't look like they would work.

For this case I cut out a section from the back and the front and sewed it together. Its a wraparound case that buttons up, using the original buttons but sewing up the buttonholes (I needed a bit of seam allowance along the front in order to add the lining). The lining is an australian cotton print I got from a friend's mother in Brisbane.

I made little loops to hold the buttons in place and sewed up the sides by hand. Its a tight fit but I like it a lot and it keeps the laptop snug and sturdy.

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Dollhouse 1

Recently I started another big embroidery project, the dollhouse by pako, the same designer as the four seasons I finished last year. I spent many many hours on gimp colouring in boxes at 400% and choosing colours. I bought the material from a little sewing store in Brummen that is going out of business. I wish it wouldn't, because she has so much dmc embroidery floss! Every month theres another 10% off, and in December it was down to 50%. I had most of the colours and could steal the rest from my mother. Now I've started embroidering, beginning with the foundations of the house (why the joists of a house are blue I'm not quite sure!), and thought I would post updates as I progress. Here are the first two.

Saturday 18 February 2012

white elephant

flying in winter makes for a lot of white.
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Wednesday 8 February 2012

another little box

this is another little box I made recently, although technically I didn't make it, I got the small wooden box from my mother many many years ago and always dreamed of decorating it somehow but never coming up with a good idea. Recently, while I was working on making christmas decorations, I had the idea to use a serviette and modge podge to cover the top. I first painted it white and then glued the top layer of the serviette on, making sure it fit the top exactly, but letting the petals go over the edge. Here is a close up:
I use it to store paint in.

Sunday 5 February 2012

kitchen embroidery

this embroidery has been finished for a while. I was inspired by a similar one my mother made and had hanging in her kitchen for many years, colour-matched to look good with her curtains.
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