Ravenhill

Spring!

We are really getting ready to enjoy the spring!

My husband bought a new bike for himself at the flea market and everyone helped with washing it.

The only down side it spring is the pollen. My son is so allergic and with the high pollen count yesterday he was in tears at one point about his swollen and painful eyes, despite the allergi medicine. So my hankie from Vanessa is coming in handy, and my swap-CHOO hankie has now arrived safe and sound with Vanessa. Here is the one I made and sent to Vanessa.

I wasn't able to resist adding a little heart.

It took longer than you might expect to get around all 12.5 inches by 12.5 with all that rolling and stitching, but the work was pleasant.

With all the extra light I am able to sleep less and play more! I have been working on some little wee babies. Happy days are here...

My friend Katie is having a give away. You really should see the beautiful quilts she makes.

Black and white today

The first primroses of the season are in full bloom in our back yard. I bought these as a potted house plant a few years ago and planted them outside after they'd finished blooming. They seem to be happy.

I want to show you the difference I have found between not steaming my knitting and after I have steamed it with the iron. Before (curled up edges, etc.):

 

After:

Now it is lying flat. Nothing revolutionary, but this was a step I didn't always see the point of, but have come to see the real value of blocking. I just turned them wrong-side out and used lots of steam on the iron. I also pulled and stretched this way and that. It didn't make it bigger but helped even out the stitches.

 

It was slow going with the tiny sized knitting needles and the necessity of following the pattern quite closely.

 

I still haven't determined what I will do with them, they don't fit me properly. They are too wide and only slightly too long.

 

I really enjoy two color knitting and doing such intricate patterns makes it a nice challenge.

 

My son says I should felt them so they would fit me. I really couldn't do that.

Well, I just wanted to show you that I do finish up projects eventually. Now to show you the fair isle turtleneck that I finished up awhile ago...

One of my matryoshkas has made some friends at Anna's! As much as I love color I really appreciate the drama of black and white and think it is fun to make my dolls in all sorts of colors.

I hope you too will enjoy a sun filled weekend!

Wish you were there...

Yes, you should have been there with me. There were so many beautiful old things and a good portion of junk too. We came home with many wonderful finds.

I don't usually buy things in such poor shape as these vintage Norwegian mittens, but I really loved the colors and pattern. I also couldn't stand the thought of them perhaps being thrown away.

I bought them so I could redo them or at least use them as a source of inspiration. You see what I mean by the mittens being in poor shape? Competent hands have mended them once or twice.

The edges are not knit but some other technique which I find so pretty.

I had the textile and basket room nearly to myself the first 15 minutes. There were so many flea markets this weekend that the sharp elbows were not around and I had a much more leisurely time poking through things. Once I purchased these though I did have to reclaim them a coulpe of times when people thought perhaps they were still for sale.

I smiled and felt a little leap of joy when I found all these hand crocheted doilies as I sorted through a few large boxes of vintage linens. Since this little photo shoot in the back yard I have washed and ironed them. How nice to have more storage and more supplies!

 

Swap-CHOO

This pretty butterfly decorated hankie is from the hankie "Swap-CHOO" I joined a few weeks ago, hosted by Iris. Thank you so much Vanessa! I can't show you the one I sent to Vanessa yet, as it is still on its way and I don't want to ruin the surprise.

The hems she has hand rolled and hand stitched. Doesn't that make the edges sweet? Iris provided a great link from Purl Bee for a tutorial on how to make a hankie. It isn't so hard, just a bit of fiddling at the beginning and a bit more time than you might expect and it is done.

 

I made this wee baby the other day on a custom order for mama and baby in a sling.

Psst!
If you would like to join a give away for one or maybe even two of my dolls just follow this link .

I hope you are having a great weekend. We all went thrifting today and it was heap of fun. We hauled back as much as we could carry in our hands, on our backs and stuff into little one's stroller. I will try to have photos soon. I hope you are enjoying the weekend.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you if you celebrate! We are overjoyed about the coming of spring, spending time together, and that the Easter bunny hid eggs all over our yard!

Unfortunately, the birds got to a few of the prettily decorated hard cooked eggs before the children. We caught a magpie in the act of nibbling on a egg as we looked through the second story window to see if the Easter bunny had come.

Wow, does he look like a happy guy or what? My husband flew his heli today with some buddies and ended up crashing. He he holds up what remains. I'm not sure why he is grinning so much, maybe he is thinking the crash is an upgrading opportunity? I guess I would too if I crashed my sewing machine...

Yesterday my son worked alongside my husband in tidying up the yard while my little one helped me prune the fruit trees and roses. Horray! The snow has finally melted!

I sometimes think I haven't done anything creative for my blog. I forget about my matryoshkas, which I have started to list for my shop! As I said in an earlier post Jennifer's Flower Power fabrics are a joy to use, with the gorgeous flowers, birds and butterflies in springtime colors. Making them makes me very happy.

 

General cheerfulness

Sometimes when you are short on cash virtual shopping can give you a lift. One of my lovely Etsy friends selected one of my needlebooks on one such shopping trip.

If you are also a big fan of lace and doilies like me you don't want to miss the fabulous inspiration here.

 

I am going to run out of the dainty doilies! My stash is dwindling fast but I have some gorgeous vintage lace that I thought would also be perfect for my linen buntings. I am still really pleased to have found a way to show off some of my favorite vintage finds.

I wanted to show you more of the great Japanese crafting magazines that I received from Jan... who by the way seemed pretty pleased about the package I sent to her!

 

I wonder if Japanese homes realy look a lot like in the magazines?

 

This little lion is so charming with his plaid features!

 

I thought these shoes looked like an interesting design with the back heel flattened. I have never made slippers but think it would be fun to do sometime.

 

I guess this is the very first Cotton Time ever!

 

Don't you like how they used unusual fabrics for these baskets?

 

More slippers... I really like the Mary Jane style too.

Too cute?!

 

I have a whole big bunch of new and flowery dollies in my shop!

Things have really thawed out now in Norway and you can expect more photos of the children and outdoor things... my fingers will no longer freeze too much to take photos! I am so thrilled about spring's arrival!

My tree

My children are both at the neighbors for a party and I have found myself at home with some spare time. The sun is shining and things are good. It is nice to have my son home from school this week. When vacation comes it hits me how much he is gone every day and just how much of the day is scheduled. Finally, I realize how much little one and I miss him!

So we will make the most of the time together. We have been playing old maid and go fish a lot lately. This is a game both children can play and so far neither are sore loosers. We hoot and holler and laugh a lot about getting that darned old maid though! My son suggested I photograph these pretty marbles. He thought they would look great on my blog and I couldn't agree with him more.

This week the European Street Team's challenge's theme chosen by Kreativlink is "Tree". I embroidered this little one to celebrate the coming of spring and the hope we'll see something like this soon - leaves and blossoms!

This is the first time I have used my linen embroidery floss. I found out quickly that they fray more easily than cotton and that one has to use a bit more care in how hard you pull on the floss. Once that lesson was learned I enjoyed it completly.

Inside is a very pretty Liberty of London fabric.

Now I will go and get some sewing done while it is quiet in the house... Enjoy your week!

Please, don't hate me...

Here are some virtual flowers for you to ask you to please not hate me because I am so lucky to get so much fabric...

Jennifer Paganelli sent me some fabrics to play with. I sent her dolls and she said she will be keeping one and giving the other one away sometime soon.

My heart was racing when I got the package... I couldn't wait! I have been admiring and longing for her newest collection, Flower Power, and was sure that is what she sent me!

Jennifer did. She is a tease, because she sent me one fabric from her newset collection, and these other wonderfully bright and beautiful fabrics from her Dance with Me collection.

So at first I nearly cried because I had been expecting Flower Power, then I fell madly for these fabrics and had the best time making dolls with them! These fabrics are perfect for my work and now I have a huge craving for more of Jennifer's fabrics.

Sleepy Fru Lund is the only one still in my shop.

This week my son is off from school on Easter vacation and my husband will also have 3 and a half days off! We don't have any big plans, just enjoying eachother's company, seeing some friends and lots of time outdoors hopefully soaking up the spring sunshine!