Pinspired: Postcards with Crochet Edge

I always wanted to try this, now I finally found the time :)

All you need is a post card, yarn, a needle and a puncher or punch pliers (see pin for instructions). So easy! And the results looks so cute :)

Yours
Uta

More Knitted Cords

I must confess I fell in love with that little spool knitting machine I blogged about earlier. The result: More knitted cords - even though I still don't know what to do with them. So if anyone wants to swap, please let me know!

Schachnmayr Bravo, color 8221, 100% acrylic
About 160 cm long

Wolle Rödel Cotton Universal, color 6632, 100% cotton
About 150 cm long

Schachnmayr Bravo, color 8226, 100% acrylic
About 145 cm long

Austermann Cara, color 11
46% nylon, 27% cotton, 27% acrylic
About 43 cm long
I'm thinking about making a necklace out of this one...

Yours

Uta

Mug Cozy "Dots"

I sort of got totally hooked on hooking mug cozies lately, already working on another one while posting this :)

And this is how it's done...

This is the pattern we are aiming for. It consists of a total of 18 circles - 9 white, 3 yellow, 3 orange and 3 red (you might have to adjust the overall circle number depending on your mug size):

Crochet 9 white circles:

• start with a magic ring, 3 ch, 11 dc into ring, join with sl [12]
• 3 ch, 1 dc into same stitch, 2 dc into each of the following stitches [24]
• join the second row using Sarah London's seamless join method.

The orange and red cirles are basically made in the same way. BUT while working the second row of those you will join all the circles.

The second row of each circle consists of 24 stitches, that means joining happens at dc 6, 12 and 18. To do so, dc 6, 12 and 18 have to be hooked as follows:

(click on picture for larger version)

Now cut 4x2 50cm threads from the white yarn, join them as shown in the following picture and braid them.

 

Happy hookin' :)

Yours

Uta

Pinspired In The Kitchen: Peanut Butter Granola

Reason to pick this recipe:

Granola is my favorite kind of breakfast so I'm constantly looking for more tasty recipes.

Tweaks made:

Instead of brown sugar I used white one and I slightly reduced the amount mentioned in the recipe.

How it turned out:

I had it for breakfast the other day and I must say it tastes great :)

Yours
Uta

Shamrock Mug Cozy

I got inspired for this a couple of days before St. Patrick's Day. The pattern itself is quite easy - see description below!

For the granny squares I basically used Debi's 4-heart square pattern as I figured it would also make a great shamrock. But I had to make a few tweaks:

• I changed colors after the second round
• For the heart/shamrock tops I joined the green yarn with a simple knot to the 1st loop from the right on any side of round two, 1 ch, 2 hdc into next loop, 2 hdc into next loop, 1 sl into next loop, 2 dc into next loop, 2 dc into next loop, 1 sl into next loop

I made three squares, joining them with the tight join method.
Afterwards, I cut 6x2 50 cm threats from the green yarn, attached them to both outer squares as described in the following picture and braided them.

Enjoy hookin' :)

Yours
Uta

Pinspired In The Kitchen: Vegan Mug Brownie

Reason to pick this recipe:
Chocolate. That's all.

Tweaks made:
I left it in the microwave for about 1 min and 10 sec, so a bit longer than the the recipe says.

How it turned out:
Yum :)

Yours
Uta

Pinspired In The Kitchen: Banana Cocoa Refrigerator Oatmeal

Here we go again with yet another pinspired dish! I'm still busy working on a couple of birthday and Easter gifts, therefore I've got another food blog post for you in the meantime :)

Reason to pick this recipe:
I'm an oatmeal and granola for breakfast kind of girl. Plus it said cocoa.

Tweaks made:
I veganized the recipe by substituting milk with rice milk and honey with maple syrup.
No, I'm not a vegan, I'm a vegetarian. Nevertheless, I try to keep diary to a minimum because my digestive system isn't exactly fond of it.

How it turned out:
Well...it didn't exactly blow me of my socks to be honest, mostly because of its texture. The oatmeal turned out quite gooey and that's something I'm having a problem with for breakfast. I prefer dishes that are a little bit firm to the bite. Maybe I'll make some more tweaks to it (like using apples instead of a banana) and give it another try. I'm not sure yet.

Oh and I almost forgot, here's the obligatory picture:

Yours
Uta

Grandma's Lace Handkerchiefs

When my grandma died a couple of years ago I helped my mum to take care of her belongings. While going through her commode we found a bunch of lace handkerchiefs. Thankfully my mum allowed me to keep them. I though they would be worth sharing with you. So colorful and delicate, aren't they lovely :)

Have a nice weekend, everyone!!!

Yours
Uta

Drawstring Pouches

This is yet another project I had on my list of resolutions for 2014 - drawstring pouches! They are quite similar to the ones over at the Martha Stewart Page. The only difference is that mine have only one layer of fabric instead of two.

I used a 100% cotton fabric from IKEA called BERTA RUTA. Not sure whether it has the same name all over the world. As far as I know IKEA names things differently depending on the region it is sold. One meter of that fabric made three big pouches and a small one, btw. For the drawstrings I simply used shoelaces.

The drawstring pouches are also mentioned in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts, which I got for my birthday last year. Great book with good information and nice project ideas in it!

Yours

Uta