After a quiet blog period but a very bussy preparation time.

Little Nathings is finally born. My own little shop on etsy and at the moment sold at Bleu Celeste in Heverlee. I'm only at the starting point of this adventure but I'm planning to make lots of fun stuf  to enjoy yourself or to give as a gift to the people you hold dear.

So far I've made some shawls, scarfs and egg cosies. If you're interested don't hesitate to contact me.

See you later or on Facebook

Seems like ages since I last wrote something overhere. But well I've been busy. Want to see what I've been up to? Have a look :

pattern can be found on Attic 24's blog- flat circle.

And another one, made from the leftovers from my ripple afghan. Used the join as you go method from Attic 24. This is a great project to work up leftovers and I love the result. Fun, easy and quick

Finally started my Picnic blanket (Debbie Abrahams design) but didn't feel like knitting much so decided to crochet it, using the Rowan Denim yarn and some blocks I picked from my new bought book Jan Eaton 200 crochet blocks.

http://www.amazon.com/Crochet-Blocks-Blankets-Throws-Afgh...

So far Queen's Lace, Lemon peel, seminole, criss cross but some more to come. hook 3.5mm

Each block is 6" x 6" or 15 cmx 15cm and I'll be making 121 blocks in total.

The book is just lovely, I would recommend it to everybody who likes to crochet  beginner or advanced.

That's all for now. Hopefully I will be back soon with more pics. Enjoy your summer !

Finally it's all done. It ate aprox 29 skeins of gorgeous Rowan Cashoft DK. I loved making this beauty. Have a look and enjoy !

Go ahead and make your own it's worth the effort The pattern can be found on attic24 (the link to Lucy's blog is to be found on the right here)

How time flies. Working hard on my WIP's and did finish another one : my ripple blanket. I am using the scraps to make a matching pillowcushion. Looking good, isn't it? The pattern was found on ravelry and is called scrumptious afghan by Dott Matthews.

Still working on my other ripple when I stranded as a lack of yarn stash ( go figure). In other words need to buy more yarn to finish it. But I will only need to do 30 more stripes to get it done or 60 rows. So yes the end is near.

Then my Christmas stocking cross stitch is getting there slowly. You can find some pics on flickr.

Last but not least, on my daily search ( read queste) to find new inspiration on the internet I encountered this site: http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/ 

Just click on the recipes tab to start baking your own.There goes my diet as everything looks delicious and is just waiting to be tested by little ol'me very soon ;)

Enjoy! and see you soon.

Do you remember these?

 Well it's not finished yet but up till now these are starting to look like this :

1/3 done and working hard to get it finished. Although the process of rippling is very addictive and easy,the color sequence isn't. I'm trying to get the right feel and sometimes that means ripping out some rows and starting over again.

In the meantime I started on another ripple where I don't seem to have that problem. Have a look

The yarn is from Bergere the France. (€ 2.69/skein on sale) and the colors are olivine, elephant, orque, marinier, lineaire and persan. Love how this is turning out.

Last but not least I've been working on my Christmas stocking as if Christmas is around the corner. I love this. The design is from Birds of a feather - special delivery (ordered at silverneedle). I didn't follow the colorsheme but like how it looks. It's cross stitched on self dyed Aida 14  cloth. (Dylon Koala brown A29) with a combination of DMC floss and Weeks dye works floss

and one in detail

So far for now. Keeping my 2010 resolution of getting some WIP's done so far : )See you soon

Just a quick note as I wanted to share a last minute present that will go under the Christmas tree tonight  :

2 hand embroidered tea towels (pattern from Colonial Patterns) I hope somebody will be very happy when she opens her present.

This might be this years final blog entry. Not sure if I'll make it before 2010 to pop by again.

So I want to wish you all a VERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS and lot's of craft projects in 2010.

 2 finished projects today:

Helga Mandls Let it snow (creative poppy)

And a birthday present for the little girl of a friend of mine

Handknit with Katia Austral. Biscuit buttons from Julija in Antwerp

More details on Ravelry

Very busy working on stuff to put onder the Christmas tree... I'll be back

In my series of finished WIP this is my second to show. It has been hanging on my door for a couple of weeks now and before I put it away until next year I'd like to share it with you.

(The pattern is from Helga Mandl bought at creative poppy)

PS For the eye-for-detail-readers you might wonder why I added the witches hats? Well, clumsy me spilled some glue on the fabric while assembling the hangers. But feels to me like a good camouflage job

PS2 For those of you who are still/always looking for a freebie project for the holidays, Check this out: http://gumtreedesigners.blogspot.com/

CU soon for more finished stuff

I promised you ( I know , for a while now)      to show you my finished WIP's.

Well today is the first in a series of finished WIP's.

I proudly introduce to you my one and only    (for now)

... .... .... drums   please   ..... ... .... ....  

BABETTE BLANKET!

A close up to show you how beautifull these Noro colors are.

And a close up from the border. I finished it off with a lobster stitch, not really mentioned in the pattern but I like how it tops off this gorgeous pattern. Gives it a really finishing almost shop-bought-touch.

Hope you liked this eye candy as much as I like this blanket and I really really really LOVE it. I used several Noro colors in both Kureyon and Silk garden. It didn't feel soft enough at first but after a wash (yes in the washing machine- wool programm) and some softner it didn't only smell wonderfull but feels very nice too.

So much for now. See you soon for some more finished stuff

The weather is turning colder and my yarn is calling for me to be turned into gorgeous blankets.

I've been progressing on my Babette and am happy to say I will soon present it to you. Just need to add a couple of squares and add the border. It's looking great already.

Further my Event plaid is meshed up and yesterday I started to weave the strands up and down the mesh. My mom passed by and was eyeing the  tartan to be. Think I'll have to make another one soon.

No pics yet, just a little patience...soon now, very soon. Probably next week.

But I do have some eyecandy as I bought my yarn for the Attic 24 inspired ripple CAL.

A mix of Rowan Cashsoft Dk and 4ply, Pure wool DK, Lang Thema Nuova and Merino superwash and Bergere de France Origin.

Gorgeous hm. Want to see some more?

With you drooling at the look of these yummy yarns, I'll leave you and see you soon with some finished projects.

This year is going by so quick. As it seems I just don't get around doing the things I want to do. Well, might be because I have way too many ideas in my head and getting more and more inspiration every day.

Like the other day I was surfing on the net, I encountered this:

Lovely aren't they. Especially the top one caught my eye. 

I've been wanting to make an event plaid for a while but couldn't decide on the colors until I saw these. 

So here is my version so far, the mesh is nearly ready and some extra wool is ordered to start the weaving. Finished result will be up soon

I used Rowan Pure Wool 4Ply in Sage, Eau de Nil and Porcelaine and DB Baby Cashmerino (stash).Love the yarn and love the colors. Too bad my camera doesn't grab the beauty as well as I'd like to.

(pattern on demand- in short it's working up a mesh from dc and then weaving through vertically so you'll obtain a tartan look)

Summer has been superb. We have had such nice weather and very little rain.

I haven't been blogging much but I have been working on some projects.

But first I want to share some pictures with you from my trip to Praha last weekend.

I've been wanting to visit this beautifull city for a while but never seemed to get around it. Until last weekend. Left very early Friday morning and stayed until Monday evening.
Want to go on a journey with me? Here it is :

Karlsbridge

delicious ice cream

wooden door

 Golden lane

view walking down Petrin hill

 Antique puppets

astronomical clock

Just a glimpse but oh so nice. Will show you some pics of the projects I've been working on  next time and soon the finished Babette Blanket   just need some more blocks and sew in the ends.

A sneak peak of my new crochet blanket to be. I'm combining two patterns. One I got from a friend on Ravelry and another I found in the latest Lucinda Guy crochet book. The blanket will consist of circles connected with smaller circles.

I'm using Rowan's All seasons cotton in the colors Ravish, Lime,Wisteria and Gay. This last one is discontinued. So mainly Purple, blue and Green colors.

And it looks like I'm in my purple/green period as I also started a little Chanel-style cardigan. Following a FREE pattern from Fillati magazine. The yarn used is Croisette print by Lana Grossa and Omega by Lang.

More green for my Sis. Making this crossstitch to put on an apron for her. I found the text somewhere on the net, but don't remember where (if anybody can help me please do so I can reference it). The Snoopy in progress is my own design.

And I started making Christmas presents too. This guest towel will go under the tree.

To early you say? Look who I ran into while visiting Köln a couple of weeks ago

Oh and for those of you wondering how my diet is going. I lost 2,5 kg so far and still sticking to it.

Long time no see. Haven't had much time to write much on my blog.

Finished another (baby) blanket. Started a wonderfull new crochet blanket. Knitting on a cardigan (chanel style), making cuttlery bags, working on an embroidery present for my sis' birthday and reading other people's blogs. And still working during daytime.

I will be taking pictures of the WIP's tonight and will try to get them online tomorrow. So stay tuned and get your OOOOh's and AAAH's ready.

So no eye candy today but I'll spoil you tomorrow 

PS discovered a wonderfull blog from a nearly neighbour. Artmind is only living a few km from my parents place. Check out her gorgeous blog here

HERE IT IS : the finished, wonderfull, awesome, worth-every-effort, gorgeous, colorfull, short-for-words, my version of the Hexagon blanket.

TADAAAAAAAAAAAAH !!!

And there's more , I lost 0.5kg. Although it took me 2 weeks, it's a loss of weight and I'm still going. Slowly as a turtle but well the slower it gets off the better it stays off ; )

I'm working on a new crochet project wich you can find on my flickr pics and embroidering a little present for somebody's birthday too. More about that later.

I started something new. no knitting, no crochet, not really a craft project actually, but something I'm struggling with and want to get rid off. I'm sure you all will understand by seeing the next picture

I'll try to post my progress (I hope) once a week. Keep your fingers crossed.

As the title says starting my diet, stopping (well ending, that is) my hex blanket. Only 9 more to go, weave in ends and crochet the border. I wanted to thank Lucy from Attic 24 once again for sharing the pattern to make this beauty. I'll post the details on yarn use and color as soon as it's completely finished . . .Very soon now.

Belgium can be so beautiful, take a look at this :

Nice isn't it. Want to visit it? Come to Haspengouw in April and enjoy the fruit blossoms .

It seems like my parents chickens are in Easter mood. They lay 3 eggs a day and it gives an abundance (read: overdose) of eggs. Needless to say my folks distribute eggs to all family members and I got in to a baking franzy.

I'd like to share the recipe I found on Salihan's blog and borrowed her picture. Mine was made with frozen blueberries

Tried it and love it, It's easy and delicious !

I 'm daily browsing the net for new ideas and creative input. Last week my surf tour passed this interesting website:

This charity organisation is looking for squares  of 8" X 8" or 20 X 20 cm either knitted or crochetted, to make blankets for children whom are infected by HIV and are living in poverty.

I'm hoping to inspire you via my blog to participate and make a knitted/crochetted contribution. Why wouldn't you, you can do what you like best: Be creative, knit/crochet, use stash or scraps to make something to help somebody.

A dollar lasts a day, blankets are for life.

It costs only the price of a standard international stamp and empower local communities to make a difference.

Millions of babies and children around the world live in poverty and are cold. If you love knitting, (and crocheting) then knitting for charity is a wonderful way to help make a child or baby blanket to keep these children warm.

Knit/crochet and send just one square (or more) and it will join thousands of other knitted squares from around the world to be joined into blankets for these children,
many of whom are affected by HIV.

 If you want to crochet a square:

      http://www.knit-a-square.com/easy-crochet-pattern.html

 If you prefer to knit a square:

     http://www.knit-a-square.com/knitting-instructions.html

 For posting instructions:

      http://www.knit-a-square.com/postal.html

More info can be found by clicking on the logo above. How to send, How big, which yarn to use, patterns,...

Please do join in

 . Make some pictures of the progress on the babette and hexagon blanket

. update the blog

. work on my hexagons

Here they are :

It always helps to make a to do list. I've been working hard to get things done. The babette blanket is almost finished. I used about 16 skeins of Noro Kureyon and Silk Garden so far and will probably need 2 more to finnish it. Hoping to get it all done by the end of the month.

The hexagons are coming along nicely.19/159 so far are finished and about 30 rounds are waiting for their final round and will be turned into hexagons soon too.

Furthermore we had a very nice springlike weekend here in Belgium and I took the dog out for a looooooooooong walk.

Everybody happy.

1 . Make some pictures of the progress on the babette and hexagon blanket

2. update the blog

3.finish the Babette

4. work on my hexagons

5. do some ironing

6. tidy up

7.walk the dog

8.book a holiday

9.do some shopping

10.stick to my diet

Well the list is made I'll do my best to get some boxes thicked off soon ; )

Yes, I think I'm hooked. After seeing all that beautifull stuff at Attic 24's blog, I got hooked and started on the hexagon blanket. I'm up to 6 of 159 hexagons.

In the meantime I also started crochetting on the Babette Blanket and it's totally addictive. I decided to make mine in different shades of Noro Kureyon. I really like how it looks.

Well I like how the squares look   because there is still a lot to crochet and then have to sew everything together. I'm hoping to finish the Babette by the end of March at the latest so keep posted for more pics.

This weekend I decided to try out Lucie's (Attic 24) Carrot cake. I can't compare with other carrot cakes 'cause it's the first I ever tasted, but I loved it ! The recipe is to be found here and it's easy peasy. Here's my result : I like the little touch of spring with the daffodils in the background.

My BF made a delicious cup of coffee with whipped milk to go with the cake and lit some candles for even more atmosphere.

 Life can be great!

Today I want to show you something that took my breath away:

http://attic24.typepad.com/ She has a great way with colors and one of the nicest blogs I've ever seen. You can imagine after seeing all this beauty, I'm dreaming of yet some more projects like a ripple afghan and a hexagon blanket.

You can find free ripple patterns on lion brands website or by googling the net. I picked this one :

I also bought the Babette blanket pattern and the yarn is ordered and on it's way. So next time I'll be showing you pictures of my own. But for now go and visit Attic 24's wonderfull blog.

I'll be back soon with a lot of new WIP's and projects.

BEST WISHES FOR 2009 ! ! !

A friend of mine and I went to visit the Salon Marie Claire idées with big expectations and hoping for an overload of new inspiration (as if my head isn’t already overflown with ideas).

After a quick and easy trip by Thalys and a very easy connection by subway we arrived at the exhibition hall.

The amount of exhibitors to our opinion was rather limited. We saw some nice kits but in general we weren’t too enthousiastic about the whole thing.

So we didn't take any pictures that inspired us.We did get one treasure though : this beautifull bag for FREE

After a rather quick visit, we decided to visit downtown Paris and do some Christmas shopping @ Lafayette.

The pro’s of the visit: We returned without spending more then our budgets allowed and had a nice day out in Paris 

Conclusion: You'd better visit the Cosy Cottage for inspiration and spend the money of the train and entree ticket there.

November already and Christmas is approaching rapidely.

Lots of things going on, which makes me lacking my blog. At the moment I'm counting down to some free time and a long planned visit to Paris to Marie Claire Idéés' fair on November 15th. Click on the link http://www.lesalonmarieclaireidees.com/ and read all about it.

Most of you now the magazine Marie Claire Idées and they organise a fair on an annuel base. I've been longing to go their and this year I'll finally be part of it  .

So forgive me for not posting any pictures now, but I'll do my best to get some from the fair for the next blog entree.

Furthermore, I'm spending some time at the Cosy cottage next week to finnish my Friends for Christmas quilt, as I'm hoping to hang it on the wall soon.

I'll keep you posted. See you all again soon.

Nathalie

PS: For those who could use some extra Christmas inspiration check out this free cross stitch pattern from Gera. ENJOY!

;

I didn't make it for an August post but, I'll try and compensate soon ; )

Summer has gone and fall is coming quickly. I've been working on a Tilda wall hanging this summer and finished it recently. This one 's for sale. If you're interested please contact me.

Furthermore, I've been making my own dishcloth. The pattern was mailed to me by Nicole Hindes and can be found online here It's easy, fun and highly addictive. What are you waiting for? Oh yes, a picture ...

I started on my first sashiko project and will be mailing some pic's soon. If you wonder about Sashiko and how to, surf to Purlbee's tutorial. You can order any supplies you might need there too.

Last but not least, as the Christmas season is getting closer and I start thinking about gifts to buy or make, I bumped into this the other day : 56-free-apron-patterns  Check it out and be inspired.There's always someone who needs a new apron for Christmas.