happy new year !

I hope 2012 will bring you all a lot of  happiness !

handmade europe

I found these on the handmade-europe website. 

A wise advise...

More knitted xmas decorations...

little green mittens

just hanging around the house

creating some xmas atmosphere...

Just a quick knit, but so very cute to hang all around the house....   I had fun knitting these little ones !

one scarf finished !

Winnie is a regular visitor of my knitting club.  She has been working on this scarf for a while, and has finished it yesterday.  It's in 2 colours red and gray, but the wool also changes from silky to fluffy.  It is a wonderful rich effect. 
Some time ago she went to a colour analist, and learned that she's a 'cold wintertype'.  So the strong reds and cool grays are perfect colours for her, that will match with a lot of her clothes.
She's proud of that scarf and wants to share it with you all.  

posing like a true model !

There is a crochet border all around the scarf.

A warm winter scarf to be used a lot

home made xmas decorations

I have been busy making some new xmas ornaments. 
In an old magazine (2009 ! Never throw away old magazines...) I found the pattern of these angels.

With some left over wool from Zeeman, I started knitting.  All the pieces are knit seperately : the body, the arms, the sleeves, the legs, the short pants, the hands, the hat.  Next, make the heads, piece of cake compared to the teddybears.  Then you sew it all together, put some filling in and look how pretty they have become !

angel wings on their backs

one in red, with buttons and a starry staff

and one in gray, with metallic buttons sprinkled all over

The most difficult was to find the wooden stand.  Nowhere to be found in Oostende...  I had to travel to Bruges, and found it in a crafts shop called 'De Banier'.   I know, you can make it yourself.  But me, wood, and carving ,  it's not a good combination.  Murphy(*)  is always sitting on my shoulder, and I don't want to loose any fingers in the process...


 (*) Murphy, from Murphy's law - you know that guy.  When things can go wrong, they will go wrong....

my sister's new hat

My sister is the better knitter of us both.  She 's always a few steps ahead of me.  When I told her I was going to make a baret, she showed me the one she'd just finished.  
I loved the colours, it was really very fashionable. 

isn't she gorgeous ? 

When she had finished knitting it, she was a bit dissapointed with it.  Too soft, not firm enough to stay on her head as it should.  So, brave as she is, she threw it in the machine and washed it at 60 ° C.  Twice !

Now it is felted, and perfect.  It retains its shape better, and is more windproof than before. 

triangle scarf is ready !

My triangle scarf with the pompons is ready, just in time for the cold weather that has hit us.

As the rest of my country enjoyed some sunny autumn days, we at the coast area were coverd in a thick fog, with very cold temperatures. 
The weatherman called it 'inversion', meaning all the heavy clouds gathered above our heads and stayed there....   to top it all, our heating broke down, and went into 'security' so we couldn't light it up anymore, due to this bad weather.  The exhaust fumes of the burnt gas couldn't escape because of the thick fog above our house.   15 ° C in my living room.....   that called out for warm scarves.... 

It was a long time ago - but I remembered how to make pompons !

a long scarf to wind around your neck 3 times.

I found the original idea on the wonderful and inspirational blog of Norwegian Lone, at flowermouse design. 

a little sister bear

Bonjour,
I am the new member of the bear family at Rozemie's.  I was created this week.  

Originally the pattern spoke of 'Barnaby', but as I was stiched together, and filled with soft woolly stuff, I had these very graceful arms and legs.   My overall  appearance was definately elegant and sophisticated.

My beautiful sharp nose, reminded my creator of Queen Cleopatra. 

Therefore it was decided that I was going to be the sister in stead of the brother they were waiting for....

Who are you guys ???

What are they doing in my bed ???

Pleased to meet you !

Hello,
let me introduce myself : I am Henry.  I am the first teddy-bear made by Rozemie. 

I am completely hand stiched, no machine was used in the proces of making me.
My creator did have a bit of help from the world famous teddybear maker Karin. 
And also from her sister, Veerle, the second best bear maker of Flanders.

I must say, she did make a few mistakes.  I have a little trouble sitting up straight because my joints are just a tiny bit too loose, it seems.   But hey, who's perfect ?  And anyway, perfection is boring.

I am also proud to present my little brother : Paldi. 

He's a German bear, a cute little fellow.  He's the second bear she made, in a weeks time.  Perhaps my creator is becoming a bit obsessed....   she hasn't made any mistakes with this one, he can sit up straight !  The only thing that is worrying us, is that we feel a bit naked.  perhaps someone will knit us something nice to wear ?

here I am, still blind...  where are my eyes ???

They are right there in the box, with my ears...

Who's that nice lady helping me with my ears ?

Oh !  It's Veerle.  she knows what she's doing !

Yep !  looking better.

Helloooow world !

In the proces of making my little brother Paldi

eyes and ears ok, now for the nose....

We are sitting together

waiting for another brother.....

halloween preparations

I have cut off all the fingers of my children !!!
  I do that every year. (the fingers grow back, I have very special children...maybe they are aliens ...?)
I serve them as a little tv-snack. It's not difficult.  do you want to try this too ?  You'll certainly need a sharp knife... 

and some more stuff like :

puff pastry (bladerdeeg), sausages, ketchup, almond flakes (amandelschilfers) and a knife.

cut a piece of pastry to fit half a sausage

roll the sausage in the pastry, let a piece stick out.

close the top, and make some little cuts to form the knuckels

add an almond flake to form the nail

don't they look real ?

put them on a baking tray

if you want you can cover them with egg for a brown colour

the blood is ketchup.

I've got some more halloween tricks up my sleeve.... 

ribbon paradise

When I was in Brussels with my friends, we discovered this little shop, near the Madeline Church.  It was small, and deep, and filled tot the top with all 'broquante' stuff from days gone by.  At the very end, after a lot of  ' Oh's and Waaw's ' from us, we foud these....     Is this heaven ?

In a shop like that, you'd sort of expect a little old man to appear, with a big book of secrets and a time travelling machine.... but that's the movies.

pom pon scarf

Oh, sometimes I can fall madly in love with a project I see on one of your blogs.  And then I'm afraid there is only one option : try and make one for myself.  

This time, it was Lone, from 'flowermouse' who did it to me.  She lives in Norway, and over there they have these wonderful patterns, and gorgeous wools with the most vivid colours.  And in this case, also a great taste for designing eyecatching objects. 
Her pierrot pom pon scarf is a musthave, and I can't wait to make my own.

It took me a bit of puzzling but I quickly found out how to make the triangles.

I need to make 16 of them, and then knit them  together.  Add the pompons and... ready !
It's been over 30 years since I made pom pons...  I remember 2 cardboard circkels, and covering them in wool, then cutting and it should be a pompon.  Perhaps it's safer to check on YouTube....  my memory isn't that good anymore...