Since last time...

Since last time...

I've taken more photos of the little daffs. :)

They're just so outrageously in bloom. And since the weather has been cold but not completely freezing, they've lasted really long outside. 

They're still blooming!!

Speaking of the weather, we've finally had some rain. 

I love the sunshine, but rain is far more efficient in melting snow, therefore I haven't complained once about it! :)

Look at the progress from our courtyard!! 

After making an executive decision much to the hubby's disapproval, I bought curtain fabric from Ikea and we now have new curtains in the dining nook.

I'm quite happy with the way they turned out, but I think hubby needs more time to get used to them. Since he wasn't fond of them to begin with. ;)

I love the effect of the stripes, it makes the (tall) room look so very tall.

 

I really need to do something about that hideous light fixture that came with the apartment though. 

I call it a mosquito light because it even flickers when you turn it on. Ick.

Ah, decorating is expensive...

See what was on the table above? 

I couldn't resist as they were on sale this past week at a department store here. 

I had my mom help me pick out a promising one. 

Hopefully it brings me as much pleasure and inspiration as the white one (which is still blooming next to the TV). :)

Nature is so amazing, such detail!

Speaking of nature, my little plantation is coming along nicely.

Almost every single seed planted has sprouted. 

I'm just worried that with spring being a few weeks late, I may have started these too early (even though according to the packages etc, I was a little behind schedule already).

It looks crazy messy, but it's controlled chaos. I promise. :)

Should we talk crochet?

I was the lucky recipient of this gorgeous crocheted rug from my mom's talented friend.

It's a beautiful mustardy yellow and I think it's far too pretty to be on the floor. 

I kind of want to hang it on the wall, but I think I need to figure out HOW and WHERE first. :)

It's like a sun! And a flower!

What's not to love? 

I've been working hard on the blue sunbursts for the couch, but it doesn't stop me from fantasizing about new projects. 

Yes, I have one baby blanket still in the works for this little girl but I am her crocheting mama, and one blanket is NOT enough!!

I am so in love with this Viking Baby Ull yarn and it was on sale at the yarn shop... So I bought the purple, blue and yellow... and the other two are from my stash.

Well,  the pink between the purple and blue is Silja yarn, but it goes so nicely with the rest. 

I have no pattern in mind yet... but I'm thinking maybe plain granny squares?

Then again, a flower motif square would be cute too.

Too many choices!!

 

 

 I have more than just WIP's though. 

I have a completed flower wreath! 

It's already on the front door, welcoming us home. :)

The yarn I used was (I think) Silja and Viking Baby Ull.

The pattern was from the wonderful Attic 24 and linked here. 

The actual wreath is just cardboard that I traced circles (using a round plastic bowl and lid) on and cut out. 

Then I wrapped blue yarn around it (talk about tedious work!) and then I glued the flowers on using fabric glue.

All in all, it's a simple project and I was more than happy with the result!

I can't decide which flower I like most. :)

As for the blue sunbursts... I have a total of (almost) 21. I have been thinking about just how big I want this blanket to be and I am toying with the idea of making it 9x10 squares... but then again, I think, maybe I should just make it until I run out of yarn and see where that gets me?

I really should take a break from these squares and finish my rainbow baby blanket... I think that should be what I will tackle today on this glorious day OFF.

By the way, I have 13 days left before maternity leave starts... 8 morning shifts, 2 evening shifts... I cannot wait!!

 But then again, at the same time, I am secretly freaking out that I'm so close to having a daughter that I am totally responsible for the well-being of.

And yet, I can't wait. :)  

Completely unrelated, I've been trying to get a good vertical portrait of Kissa since we want to hang pictures of the three of them... But she is sometimes the WORST to get a good picture of!!

Like this one is super cute and all, but it would have been THE picture if she didn't stick her tongue out! :D 

And when you try to repeat the magic she looks everywhere but the camera... so then you call her name and she looks pissed off. 

And heaven forbid you blow at her to get her to look at the camera, you get a look like this one:

Kitty is not happy. 

:D

Well, thanks for stopping by!

Hopefully I'll be back before too long with more photos to share! :)

Spring!

  Some of my zinnias have risen...

And asters too!

 And I couldn't decide which of the following pictures I liked more. Even though they're pretty darn similar. :)

Had a wonderful weekend spending time with my family and friends. 

Got some spring cleaning done, planting (nasturtium and sweet peas), crocheting, cooking, baking, and all kinds of fun simple stuff like that. 

:)

It was such a nice weekend, I don't even mind the SNOW (?!) that is coming down outside. :) 

It will melt before too long!

Hope you've had a nice weekend!

Sun, sunbursts, and seed starting

Snippets of the last few days...

Admiring Kissa sitting in perfect kitty form.

She's been mowing the lawn... and those Easter eggs have become some of her favorite toys. Tsk tsk...

 

I've started on my new blanket.

This is the stash I'm trying to use up. Blues and greens!! Also a bit of gray... 

 

I've been using the infamous Priscilla Hewitt's Sunburst Granny Square Pattern which I have linked there.

 I used this tutorial to help me fumble through the first square, but since I've started making these daily, I must say, the pattern is easy to memorize once you get the hang of it!

This tutorial by Eda's Crochet Room was helpful to learn with since the pattern calls for some stitches I don't think I've ever made before. 

I bought more little tete-a-tete narcissi. :)

 

We've had such gorgeous sunny weather and since today was my day off, we sat outside and I crocheted and soaked in the rays. 

 

I had a grand seed starting afternoon. Zinnia, asters, pumpkin, decorative gourds, corn, sunflowers, marigold, snapdragons, watermelon... I still have more seeds to plant, but the irony is running out of the 10 liter bag of particular seed starting dirt that I went all over town to find.

Also, I am running out of containers to start them in! I have egg cartons, washed out meat tubs, yogurt cups, sour cream cups, microwave meal and soup dishes... I've been saving all these things for weeks, even going as far as purposely buying particular foods for lunch at work to be able to save the container they come in!!

:D 

And it's still not enough!

I think I'm just gonna have to ask folks at work to save me their yogurt cups and the like. 

I don't know how many more microwave meals I can eat either. :P

 Hey, does this count as gardening post #0.5 of 2013?

Hahaha... 

I can't wait for the snow to be GONE so that I can stomp around the garden in my blue boots again and think about where exactly I am going to plant everything. 

Even though I've made at least two plans on paper already, lol!

Well, that's it for me. 

Off to bed soon, even though it's fairly early. This pregnancy fatigue is kicking my ass. 

Pregnancy -- which reminds me!!

The pictures of the baby blanket that blogger wouldn't upload a few posts ago...

Here ya go!

Thanks for stopping by! 

See ya around!

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!