Small, quick projects

When I traveled to and from Denmark 2007–2008 I bought a lot of yarn. Much of it is cotton, since mercerised cotton is really cheap in Denmark, don't ask me why. I also bought discount yarn whenever I found something interesting. Like this one. Rosa means 'pink' both in Swedish and in Danish.

This yarn has given me trouble ever since. But when I heard that my niece had mixes a fluffy yarn with cotton, I tried adding a thin cotton to this wool mix and I was home.

With pins number 15, I knitted a small scarf very quickly. My youngest daughter will not wear it, since she has inherited her father's severe wool antipathy. So maybe I'll just sell it and give the money to her soccer team? It is really soft and lovely.

I also crocheted a small beanie friend for my daughter to have when she watches TV, instead of biting her nails...

...and a couple of hearts from the same yarn that I used for the Red gooseberry and Red currant scarves. All this to reduce the stash and use even the small balls of yarn. 

They are filled with soy beans. I had some in a cupboard in the kitchen, and I'm really not going to eat it so it's good that it comes to use. My dear husband suggested that I'd fill them with coffee beans instead, for the lovely smell. I think whole wheat would be great, because then you can heat them up in the microwave.

/Maia

Röda vinbär – Red currants

Another scarf, same yarn, but this time with a slightly different trimming. 

This time the edging is a bit broader and also flatter and pointier, red currants seemed a fitting name to me. 

The trimming of the Cup scarf – Red gooseberries – is flimsier and fits well with the Swedish word for gooseberries, krusbär. Krusig means 'frizzly, crinkly'.

On the top Red currants, on the bottom Red gooseberries.

The nuance is a dark burgundy that warms up in the sunlight, so the colouring on the last photo is really not accurate. My iPhone camera doing a bad job again...

/Maia

The leftover Christmas tree – Instructables

Ever wondered...

...what to do with the leftover Christmas tree? Well now in September yesteryear's tree may be just dry enough for you to turn it into something really useful.

Like a didgeridoo? 

One of my RSS links goes to the hilarious blog Instructables, where the members upload their step-by-step instructions for making just about anything from building a polar 3-D printer from Legos, an invisible bookshelf  or – even more useful – a hidden door bookshelf, to cake recipes like a coffee cup cake, the best ever chcolate chip cookie and the dual color cookie. And of course more serious food like meatloaf on a stick.

All instructables are nor for everyone. The Christmas tree to a didgeridoo instructable, though, seems to fill a need here in the Nordic countries. Enjoy!

/Maia