Baby Rose Blanket

Here's the big reveal!! :) 

 

The pattern can be found here from Lion Brand's website (requires free registration to see it): Rose square baby afghan

There was a total of 25 squares and the total size was approx. 70x70cm. 

I used Gjestal Silja yarn and a 5mm hook. 

Because I thought the blanket would just be too busy and too much with every square a rose, I made a simple granny square and alternated the pattern. 

Doing this, I ended up with a slightly wonky blanket.

...Which I then made worse by hand stitching a fleece backing... but I thought of those little fingers getting all tangled in the backs of the flowers (this pattern is rather hole-y), and I knew it had to be done!

I don't know if I will ever sew a blanket to fleece again... there was a lot problems with the yarn blanket stretching and the fleece stretching... Annoying!

The border was just a row of granny stripe in blue using the Bunny Mummy technique of getting a flat border.

Then I made a row of dc in pink and a row of sc in blue again.

I really love the blanket and the colors too. Perfect for the little girl I made this for. :)

I hope she likes the contrast as her little eyes develop, and the flowers when she's older and understands that it's just straight up pretty!

I've said it before, and I will say it again; I really love crocheting with loved ones in mind. Especially babies! Every blanket I've made, I've put so many well-wishes and love into for the little ones. As I crochet, I sit and think of what kind of amazing person they will grow up to be and all the amazing things they will experience and accomplish. 

Ah, such a beautiful thing! :') 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Have a wonderful week!!

I will try to be back soon with the beginnings of my latest project! Woohoo!

Happy Easter!!

Wishing everyone a happy and sunny Easter! Hope you got to eat lots of chocolate! ;)

Spring flowers and crochet

 Happy Easter Weekend!! 

My weekend started on Wednesday and ends tonight. Unfortunately I work the next 4 days, but hey... I'm one for looking on the bright side (every now and then), so I'm thinking about how nice getting holiday pay will be. ;)

On my wonderful three days off though, we've been busy! 

Wednesday, hubby and I ran errands and then I spent the evening crocheting. 

Yesterday we went to Ikea and bought a new patio set, new pots for summer flowers, crib stuff, a new bathroom rug, new bedroom curtains, and all that other random s...tuff that finds its way into your cart. Lol! 

Ah, and today, we've sat in the sun enjoying our new patio furniture with the hubby and my friend. 

Sipping tea in good company, sunshine on my face, and yarn in my hands. Happy day ♥

 We've had gorgeous and sweet smelling spring flowers to enjoy these past few days (thanks to my mom's wonderful friend!) :)

Nothing more inspiring to take out the camera than some pretty flowers!!

"Paper weight narcissi" or "perunanarsissi" in Finnish (which translates to potato narcissi)...

How could I resist crocheting a few sweet Easter egg amigurumi? Here is the pattern I used from the wonderful Greedy for Colour blog :)

Brought back memories of learning to crochet and being ALL ABOUT amigurumi!! 

...counting rounds... 

 

Kissa keeps our Easter grass freshly mowed...

And no, I still haven't gotten over how much I love this orchid. Unfortunately, I think it's glory days are ending. As you can see, one flower has drooped and all the buds that were once closed, are now open and blooming... I saw this via pinterest about making orchids bloom again. I wonder if it works! 

I've crocheted more than just the eggs though!

I finally finished the baby blanket for my friend's daughter. I hope we will see them tomorrow so I can post about it soon (I've been trying to keep it a surprise!). I have the pictures taken for the reveal already! :) Stay tuned for that for sure!

So other than fiddling with little eggs, I've been fiddling with little flowers. 

The pattern I've used is from the fantastic Lucy at Attic 24. 

And TA-DA!!!

I told you I was almost done with it!

This is the baby blanket for my little girl. ♥

Just need to finish it but hey, I have until at least the end of May, right? ;)

 It's all that pesky sewing in ends and crocheting squares together and adding a border business that I just don't have the interest in doing right now. 

But wow! Love LOVE love, the rainbow look! 

I had a couple more pictures of this, but stupid Blogger won't upload them! :( I'll try to add them some other time to another post. You get the gist pretty well with the sad picture above though.

So that's what I've been up to.
I think I will crochet some more eggs and flowers tonight if I have time.
Time to really buckle down and think about what kind of square to make for my next blanket. :)

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Rainbow of yarn

I did inventory of my stash. Again.

This time I laid it out and marveled. 

I might have an addiction, but hey, it's only yarn!

As I laid it out, I thought of projects past that some of this is leftover from.

I thought of how generous my aunt, mom, and other folks have been by giving me so much yarn over my short few years of crocheting.

I thought of what projects are to come!

And I thought, "please stay asleep in the other room, Kissa, and don't steal my yarn while it's spread out so prettily" 

She didn't stay asleep. But she didn't steal anything either. ;)

On the crochet front:

 I've been finishing up the baby blanket for my friend.

Fantasizing about the blanket I want to make in blues and greens for the couch, as well as the other blanket I want to make for our bed. (Hence the necessity of inventory...)

I have resurrected the baby blanket I started making for our baby (before she was even conceived! Lol!), it's only missing two more squares + the borders and joining. 

I want to make some kind of spring flower wreath for the front door... but we'll see if I can get it done in time to be considered "spring". ;)

Because this is my blog, here are a few flower pictures I took last week. :)

I want to buy more flowers, but I think I will wait till Tuesday or Wednesday so I can enjoy them on my three days off (Wed-Fri), and throughout the Easter holiday. 

Ummm, how is it Easter next weekend ALREADY?!

Thanks for stopping by. 

Hope you enjoyed the rainbow as much as I did! 

Spring in a new home!

So after what has been a hectic and crazy-busy February, March has brought better weather (even though it's still sooooo cold!) and a new home! 

With these two wonderful things, I am also finding more time to do things I want to do again... and so much energy and inspiration! 

Now if only that pesky job would end so I could really focus all my time on crafty endeavors ;)

The day before we moved we went to see The Killers in Helsinki. 

Yeah, I know, who goes to see a concert when moving stress is at it's peak? 

Funny how things work out though when you buy tickets months in advance, you never really know what will happen! 

Here is a picture from my phone taken from the Killer's concert. They are amazing live by the way and I highly recommend seeing them if you are the least bit a fan. 

I was hoping they'd play this song "Be Still" (because I'm obsessed with it being prego and all), but as expected, perhaps it was too slow of a ditty to perform live for a party crowd. They did play a lot of my favorites like "Dustland Fairyale", "For Reasons Unknown", and "Smile like you mean it". 

Ah, and Brandon Flowers has such a beautiful, powerful, and conveying voice... surely one of the best in music today. ♥

Is that enough fan talk? ;)

Wanna hear more about the new apartment?

Well I love it for starters!

 We have the furniture in its maybe permanent spots... Still working out the kinks from a few rooms...

I'm just blown away by how awesome a walk-in-closet is to have for storage! Wow, we have near empty closets in the bedrooms thanks to it! :)

Lots of kids live in this area... so our courtyard has several snowmen :)

That's my breakfast view. Urban scenery complete with trains passing. Thankfully, they aren't loud!
And speaking of breakfast, I've been on an oatmeal kick lately. This morning, I ate it with banana and red currants from last summer. What a surprisingly good combo!

I've had lots of flowers to keep me happy in our new home.
My friend brought us these beautiful red tulips last weekend. Thanks! :)

And last Saturday when we went to Ikea, I brought home this orchid and a pot of narcissi. 

And while we were out today shopping, hubby bought me pink tulips to enjoy for our anniversary (two whole years on Monday!!)

There were so many, I was able to take a few and put them on my nightstand. Having flowers on one's nightstand is a total quality of life measurement for me. :D
Aww, you can kinda see us in the background on our wedding day. Oh the happy memories ♥

I've been really into spring and Easter since the stores are suddenly full of daffodils and Easter chicks and chocolate eggs.

I'm loving having a proper dining room/nook now and I smile every time I walk by and see it :)

I'm having so many thoughts on decorating as far as themes and colors go... just kind of taking my time thinking though. I feel like we always rush into putting things together and then get tired so quickly, so maybe if we take our time, we'll enjoy it longer. :)

As is, I'm pretty tired most days when I get home from work. I think it has something to do with working a lot and growing a person inside. 

Here we are at 26 weeks and change. 

She's a kicker, a mover, and a shaker.

And she and I are getting bigger by the week!!

(especially this past week, I've really felt my clothes getting tighter!)

 

Well, I am itching to crochet since I am having a glorious 3 day weekend in honor of our anniversary and since daylight is slipping away, the cozy corner of the couch is calling my name. :) 

Ooh, and I bought some new yarn today which is always the motivator to finish any projects, because well, what's better than starting a new one? :)

Thanks for stopping by and hope spring is finding you where ever you might be! :)

Happy Valentine's Day! ♥

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!  

If you're reading this you are awesome, and I thank you humbly for reading my little nonsense of a blog :) I may not be as active on here as I once was (ugh, life always getting in the way!), but I do cherish this little venue of thought and creativity. And it is nice indeed to know some people stop by!! 

So  here, for you, some flower pictures. It's what I do best! ;)

And not just any flowers, but tulips. Pink tulips. 

They were what my wedding bouquet consisted of.

They are the definition of spring and romance. ♥

And I rewarded myself for getting through a tough work week and weekend on Monday.

Then proceeded to take a ridiculous amount of pictures of them on Tuesday when I was off work. 

:) 

I tried the penny in a tulip vase trick I saw a looooooooong time ago on pinterest and you know what, it works!

These have stood so tall and proud instead of toppling over like they usually do. 

I recommend trying it if you bring home tulips this spring!

And of course, no Valentine's Day is complete without chocolate.

So here's a plate full of mini chocolate cupcakes with whipped chocolate ganache frosting.

Lemme tell ya --- deeeeeeelish!

 

Thanks to my MIL for sending me mini cupcake liners for the tin I bought at Christmas. And thanks for the colorful spring sprinkles, love them!!

Oh and the baby and I indulged and have found the chocolate ganache to be particularly irresistible. It tastes like chocolate ice cream!

She's the size of a grapefruit apparently.

I wonder if it's a large or small grapefruit. 

Either way, she's making me look bigger by the week...

23 weeks now. 

17 weeks to go.

Hahahhahahaha

I love the awkwardness of my face after taking a MILLION self-portraits with the camera remote and tripod. Talk about a challenge! :D 

Ah, I'm loving this spring!

Now if only the weather would cooperate and get a little more sunny!!

Anywho, best start packing since I have a little time before work! 

Thanks again for reading and hope you get spoiled today! :)

Home decorating explosion post

Holy moly! TWO posts in ONE week!? Wow, this hasn't happened in a loooong time! :)

I'm off work tomorrow since I (unfortunately) work the weekend... therefore, I am super inspired to do all kinds of amazing things on my day off. Oh my goodness me, the length of this to-do list!!

Pinterest, you're not helping!

In addition to the not so fun phone calls I have to make... I need to call some florists about a friend's wedding (I'm a bridesmaid! First time since my sister's wedding in 2000!)... We've brainstormed and being the flower-oriented person I am, I've even started a pinterest board for mainly wedding flower ideas :) Go check it out! 

In addition to phone calls, I need to clean. Actually, hubby is off to so I should say we need to clean! I know having a baby is going to mean I will have less time to keep this place in order (or well, the new place!), but I still firmly believe that the disarray that befalls our home when I work all the time will be mostly avoided while I'm on maternity leave. I found this helpful spring cleaning checklist on pinterest and I figure if I  we do as much on this as we can, it'll be a good head start to the final big clean before we move. That, and this place is... gross.

I suppose this would also be a good time to start really packing (!) !! 

I can't wait to be moved and settled in again.

Which brings me to decorating. Oooh, how I love this topic!

I've been obsessed lately with how we are going to set up the new place. I have the furniture situation pretty well planned, but oh those walls and textiles. It's the funnest but hardest part. We've been smart and acquired or bought only neutral color furniture (white, black, wood) so we can really play up the color with textiles (curtains, rugs, pillows etc), and we have a whole boatload of things I'd like to hang on the walls. It's the themes and arrangements that get me, the colors too. I have enlisted the help of my newly graduated designer friend to help me out when it's time for the final touches, because I feel like I get too excited and just throw stuff up on the wall and rush the process...leaving the house looking, well...rushed and unstylish.

So to assist my brain and my friend, I've been avidly pinning home decor ideas and hopefully it will keep me focused on what I like and what I want to do. Actually, all these pictures are from our Japan (honeymoon) trip from 2011 and ones I would like to hang on our living room wall in some kind of frame arrangement like on my pinterest board linked above. I can't decide on curtain colors or even options as of yet for the living room though. We have a lot of black furniture and there is currently a lot of green going on, but I'm thinking adding blue might be nice since it's my favorite color. Oh the choices!

Another focus point of decorating is the dining nook. We actually will have one for the first time since we lived in the States (feels like FOREVER ago!), so now I'm super excited to make it special. I will hang my giant apple painting on one wall, but I have no idea what I should hang on the opposite wall. We've been thinking about some simple arrangement of color or black and white family photos. Maybe? I definitely want a gorgeous orchid to go in the middle of the table, because I have serious orchid-envy of the clients I visit daily and their gorgeous orchids. :D

The second bedroom is going to be a girly pink and country-esque guest bedroom/atelier. Yup, not giving that up! I am getting all the furniture for it (almost anyway) from my mom and I'm super excited about having my uber-girly room.

I saw this knit strawberry bunting on pinterest and would love to figure out how to crochet something similar.

(since I can't knit)

I'd also love to find time to crochet some gorgeous pastel and pink pillows for the day bed. Ah ♥

Our bedroom has me the most stumped of all. All I know is that we have a white romantic style bed set and we have to fit a crib in there. Other than that, I'm really confused about what I want to use for colors (since I have a pink room, we're going to try some other color...hubby's happy!). I may or  may not have blogged about it, but I got a gorgeous vintage quilt from my godmother on our trip to New York and it had a lot of colors in it, but mainly yellow. I am also having an inexplicable love affair with all things yellow at the moment (which is so not me), so I don't know if I should try incorporating more yellow and use the quilt as my decorating inspiration. Decisions, decisions.

I'd also like to blow up some of my flower photography and hang it, but we'll have to see about that...

And my maybe favorite room... the bathroom. It may seem weird, but I have a slight bathroom fetish. Not only that, but I love any "modernized" bathroom 100x more now that we've had a really icky old bathroom (that always looks dirty no matter how much or how often you scrub it! UGH!). 

I saw this idea on pinterest today for double shower curtains and I must say, I'm intrigued. I've also fallen in love with this idea for DIY ruffled shower curtains, but I doubt my level of sewing experience could pull it off. Sigh...

Either way, I'm super duper excited about having proper bathroom storage (a whole closet!!) and generally a cleaner and newer bathroom!

Wow, that was an explosion of decorating...

Funny where typing takes you when you just let you mind run. :)

Let me know if you have any awesome ideas!! 

 :)