Alphabet Club Catch Up - I

I don't know how I ended up so far behind with the catch up, but I'm going to do something about it! Next in line is the letter 'I'. Off the top of my head, I can't think of too many words starting with 'I', so let me cheat a little with my stitching - here, have a woman In her bathtub!

I was looking at Intranslatable words again for Inspiration, and the one I will be going with today is the 'Innerer Schweinehund'. Literally, that would be you 'inner pig dog', and it describes  that ferocious beast inside of you that does not like being raised from the couch, being fed healthy or getting dragged out for a jog - basically, the part of you you have to fight with and overcome in order to better yourself, keep resolution and do all that stuff you said you would, but don't really want to. Or maybe you want to...but your innerer Schweinehund doesn't!

January Gifted Gorgeousness

Hello my lovelies! It's been a while since I updated, but I've had a busy time with friends visiting, Felix' brother crashing his car (don't worry, he's okay - just the car isn't) and starting work with a four day trip to Aachen. I had planned on lots of catching up in reading, blogging and other to-dos this weekend, but somehow, that didn't happen - instead, I went to test out the gym with friends yesterday, Felix and I visited another pair of friends for food and a movie (Serial (Bad) Weddings - don't watch it if your easyly offended by stereotypes, but it's SO funny otherwise!) and spent the day stitching and talking with two coworkers today, while Felix and one of the coworker's husband made us food. So, no to-does were crossed off, and I feel SO good about it! Still, I want to get a bit of what I did out there, so here's the first Gifted Gorgeousness checkin of the year.

I've been working on my new year start (which Jo correctly guesses is a pattern by Joan Eliott - and soon you'll see which one, too!) and I had a hard time putting it down. I finally put it down here, because I needed to focus on other stuff, but I can't wait to work on it a bit more!

That 'other stuff' was, for the moment, mostly the Hobbit Meal Plan. After finishing the 'tea' of 'Afternoon tea' I also did 'Dinner' with what is my favourite colour so far - I've taken this picture with my phone, so it's maybe not as clean as usual, but I found my phone is much better at picking up colours than my big girl camera!

And lastly, when I wen't on that work trip, I was *so* close to start another new trip-friendly project, but then remembered I still had those Game of Throne bookmarks on the go, which I hadn't touched in over a year, so I decided to revive them. I've worked on Arryn, finishing the moon and filling up the blue above and below it, but I've also noticed I never really finished Tully (still needs four rows of blue and a tiny patch of red where I ran out of thread) so I'll probably get both of these done on the next trip I take.

I've also played around with some crochet and knitting projects, but I don't really have to show anything yet. I probably should get my list of what needs to be done when updated, and I will, but for the moment I kind of enjoy that limbo of having everything finished I wanted to finish last year, and not being too concious of the next looming deadlines, so that's it for today!

WIPocalypse: Checking in 2017

A few days into the new year, I have finally caught up enough to write my checkin for this year. The goal of this first post is to introduce myself and my goals, so let me start with a short self introduction:

Hi, I'm Leonore, I'm 27 years old and from Germany. I've been doing several kinds of crafts for nearly all my life and tried cross stitch first when I was about 6 or 7, but it has only re-emerged as one of my main hobbies a few years ago. I also crochet and knit, try to sew and love trying out new things (and revisiting old ones). I'm living in Freiburg in the South of Germany with my boyfriend, Felix. We both work at Freiburg university, trying to get out PhDs in computer science. My hobbies besides crafting include reading, video games, and watching movies and shows (mostly on the side during my crafting time). Pleased to meet any new follower, and even more pleased for everyone who followed along last year and decides to do so again!

Stitchingwise, I love working on many different projects. One day I will enjoy huge blocks of single colours, the next I will dive deep into the confetti - sometimes I prefer plain cross stitch, sometimes I just need those beads and speciality stitches. I love the look of a fresh white fabric, and also the glorious colours of hand-dyed...I have a colourful mix of projects, both on the go and in my stash. And I'm a sucker for gift stitching...when I have a good idea on what to make for someone, I will through all my other plans over board to make it happen. Apart from that, I tried to not make any plans last year, and I kind of enjoyed it - being able to just go with the flow. I have a few SALs I want to keep up with, but that's it - no list, no plans, apart from having a lot of fun, trying new stuff, and hopefully finishing a few things for myself this year as well. Plans never work for me anyway because life just tends to happen and get busy.

That being said, I do hoe to work on a few of my WIPs/UFOs this year. There are some beautiful projects in there that I'd really like to get back to, although right now I'm already caught up in a few more gift projects...so, yeah. To give you a bit of a taste what might or might not lie in stock this year, here are my two latest starts: The first is a new knitting project, a nice, on-the-go project with little counting involved and multicoloured yarn to keep it fun. I'm really in love with the colours and super exciting as I'm making that scarf for myself!

The other one was my new year stitching start, although I cheated a little and started early - but I was done with all the WIPs I had taken along on my Christmas vacation, and I had a little time that evening I didn't want to go to waste! I'm a little further ahead now in fact, but here's what I did that first evening. I won't be telling what it is just yet, just for fun, but I'm sure it will be visible soon. In the meantime, feel free to guess if you want :)

WIPocalypse: Checking out of 2016

Well, I fully intended to get that final recap of the year up on December 31st, but then computer problems happened, then business happened and then other stuff happened, and now it's already January 3rd and it's high time for the introduction post for 2017. Now I don't try to do yearly goals anymore, so there is no set 'border' between years for me stitchingwise (other then getting all the Christmas crafting off my chest), so I originally wanted to just do both in one go, but the post got kind of long so I decided to spilt it up after all.
If you checked my finishes page for 2016 right now, you'd count 32 finishes, and this post is going to add three more for a total of 35 - much of that were smalls and/or knitting projects, but I'm still quite pleased.

First, here's another Christmas finish I had earlier in December, that I couldn't show because I was sending it to a friend. It's another one of Mill Hill's owl kits - you might remember that I already stitched the purple one for her birthday earlier this year, but I think I like this one even better.

Also, Felix helped me frame Lizzie*Kate's 'A perfectly kept house' which I also finished much earlier this year. I originally wanted to give this as a housewarming gifts to some friends we were going to spend last New Year's Eve with, but I didn't get it all finished and then the party was cancelled too and I didn't see them all year, so I wanted to have it ready for this year. They are already living a year and a half in their new house now, but it's still not completely furnished and unpacked, so still kind of fitting, I suppose - and they really liked it too! The framing isn't perfectly straight as well, but I think that fits the subject kind of well too.

We went to spend Christmas and the days after with Felix' family, and I got a few great crafting presents from them! The crochet and beading books are from Felix' parents, the knitting book from his grandma, and the cute little smilie crochet set was from his brother. Many new fun things to use for this years Gifted Gorgeousness!

In Germany, we call the days between Christmas and New Year the 'time between the years' - the new year hasn't quite started yet, but it already feels like the old year is over. I really like that term. This year, I used that time between the years to stitch a few things I wanted to finish in December but didn't have time to work on before Christmas - things that weren't gifts. First, I worked on the 6th page of the Fire and Ember SAL, and that stitched up really quickly again - about four days start to finish. Again, there were some nice and bright colours, and I totally love it. Next I'll start working on 'fixing' that fabric-too-short issue, so cross your fingers that it'll work out.

Next up was my entry for the current (or rather, not current anymore, the submission deadline was December 31st) contest at Stitching Pirates - I couldn't actually participate because I won the last one, which makes me an honorary judge this time, but I still wanted to submit something just for fun, and I had that little rubber ducky kit from Mill Hill in my stash for a while now that perfectly fitted the theme of 'Tiny toys'. This will be finished as a magnet to put on my whiteboard at work.

Last finish of the year was Magicals Ornament of the Month for December - or rather, one of the ornaments, as there are three designs for December. I just picked the one I think will fit best with the others, and I'll go back and stitch the remaining patterns (there are a few other months with several patterns too) sometime (hopefully soon).

So, how did I do over all this year? I decided in the beginning I didn't want to make huge plans and just go with the flow, which I kind of did. Of course I took on way to many deadlined projects and gifts again, but it was fun, so that's okay.  I tried out new things, I made some things for myself, and I didn't count, but with crossing off a few and adding a few more, I think the length of my WIP list hasn't grown too much, so that's okay as well. So I'm counting this year as a success, and I'm looking forward to the new one :)

Catching up for Christmas

Hello my lovelies, Christmas has come and gone, I've had some wonderful days with family and friends, lots of great food and great gifts, and lots of giving gifts which I love even more, especially when those gifts are handmade and the recipients really really like them. Last time we spoke, a few of these gifts were still to be finished, so let me catch you up on those - I'm happy to report that everything that needed doing by Christmas has been done!

 I finish-finished the two little Mill Hill kits, Polar Bear and Panda. They were originally supposed to be fridge magnets, but I decided to give them both hangers and finish them as ornaments. My two coworkers called me 'crazy' and grinned from ear to ear when receiving them ^_^

Lestrona has been successfully blocked, and I couldn't be happier with it! My grandma couldn't as well, she just complained that she had dressed in the wrong colours for Christmas Eve so it wouldn't match and she couldn't wear it right away. Something pulling through with older projects *really* can be worth it...

Grandpa's hat was also finished and loved. I still need to do Felix' hat, but he says he doesn't mind if it takes a bit longer. I'm still trying to get it done while it is still winter!

Not a Christmas gift, but I still managed to make some progress on the Hobbits Meal Plan before we left to spend time with Felix' parents (I can't take it with me because a) it's on the floor stand and b) his brother is here as well). I kind of wanted to finish the whole 'Afternoon Tea' instead of just the 'Afternoon', but I'll still have two more weeks to work on this once we get home.

Last but not least, I also finished the socks for Felix' dad - on the car ride there, with minutes to spare before we arrived! I didn't even have time to take a proper picture before giving them and had to snatch them back for a minute later to take this shot. I'm really pleased with how these turned out, maybe I'm slowly getting the hang of knitting socks.

I realize I still owe you guys the final WIPocalpyse post for the year, but as it's meant to be a recap of 2016 and the year is not over yet - I still have a few days with nothing much but crafting to do! - you'll have to wait a bit longer. There are still some more things I want to get done and show you before then :D

December Gifted Gorgeousness

The third post in one weekend - I'm on fire here! In fact, I was just shocked how long ago my last update has been. I kind of lost momentum with plowing through my list, which isn't very suprising, it's more suprising how long I stayed focused on my target. Recently, I'm craving gaming more than crafting, and while I still intend to finish a few things before Christmas (and I still think I can do so too!) I'm giving myself a bit of a break, so things have been slower. Still, progress has been made, so let's talk about progress!

First, I corcheted this little purse for the now big sister of one of the babies I knitted booties for earlier this year. It was a fun little pattern from ravelry, although I picked my own colours. I had originally ordered some prett cottons, but seeing them in real life I didn't really like them together, so I used the same yarn I used for that owl purse I did a few years back since I really enjoyed those. As usual, the actual crocheting went fairly quickly, but it took me ages to get everything sewn up and finished. It's pretty cute though, that base circle is a little less than 5".

Next, I started the third of my four hats - this one is all blue and for my grandpa, and it's almost done! Well okay, not quite done, but I'm almost ready to start the decreases, and once I get to those I will be nearly done, so it counts!

I also stitched up the next of my Mill Hill ornaments - a cute little polar bear and a gift for one of my favourite coworkers. I'm just in the process of finish-finishing this one and his brother the panda into ornaments.

Of course I did not forget about my corchet a week thing. Here are week 3 and 4...actually, the second take on week 3, as the first time around I somehow completely missed one of the petals and made the think five sided instead of six. But it came out nicely the second time around, and so did week 4. I almost finished week 5 too, which is a shame as I just remembered I should have uploaded week 6 today...so I have some catching up to do here!

Next on my list was working on these basket socks...no idea why these have been going so slowly all this time, because once I sat down, I got the toes of the first one done really quickly, and the start of the second one as well. I think I'm about 1/3rd done with that one, so hopefully, I'll get the heel done this weekend.

Lastely, this weekend I finally got around to blocking Lestrona, and I think it looks really nice spread out like this, so I wanted to show you. Just a bit of waiting and it will be finish-finished for real!

So...I kind of wanted to have all my Christmas crafting done by this post, and I haven't, but it's fine. The only thing I really need to do before Christmas is finish that hat and that sock, and that should be very managable. Everything else, I can work on in my time off after Christmas in peace and quiet. Here is the current state of my list:

1. Two toddler-scarfes 'Sharky-Pie' - beginning of one is pictures in blue - as christmas presents for a friend's twins
2. Two One more small Mill Hill kits as christmas presents for friends/coworkers of ours
3. Shawl Lestrona for my grandma
4. One pair of socks for Felix' dad - one sock and a third of a sock done
5. One BSJ for a soon-to-be-a-dad coworkers of mine - due in December
6. One pair of Baby Booties and one Toddler sized purse for the kids of a friend - due in December
7. One pair of Baby Booties for a coworker - due in October
8. Two gifts for the kids of another coworker - plans are being made - due in January
9. Cut Thru' Cottage as a housewarming gift for Felix sister- two more pages to go! - due whenever
10. Four Three Two more hats for my grandparents, Felix and myself
11. 'Elevenses' by fiddlesticksau as a birthday present for Felix' brother - Due in January - 4/7 done 

Of course I already have more planned by now, but I will add that next year. For now I'll just focus on getting those last few finishes I need to do, and being proud of myself!

Alphabet Club Catch Up - H

Still trying to catch up with the catch up :D But I think things are finally getting a bit quieter around here, so maybe I'll make it. We'll see!

Here are some 'Hasen' - rabbits! 'Häschen' if you want the cutsey form.

I really liked the idea of in-translatable words for this series, but I couldn't find any starting with 'H', so I'm going to cheat a little today. You all know 'Heimweh' - the feeling of being homesick. But in German, we also know 'Fernweh', which is kind of the opposite - the longing to travel and see new places.

Another short entry, but I still hope you like it!