ana cr@fts

Finally!

2011-02-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

I've finished my first project from 2011... finally!

A cute little vest for Luísa, my own design! I've used Debbie Bliss Baby cashmerino yarn.

Some details... the bow

and the buttons...

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-25T02:45:00.000-08:00

This year I have my first Christmas tree! And I've baked some of the decorations... made with fimo...

Christmas cookies!

I cannot eat them but I can keep them forever!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Piet hat

2010-12-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

Luísa made a Piet hat at the creche this week! Well, she 'painted' it! Very nice and colourful! If you never herd about Zwarte Piet look here. Happy Sinterklass!

The birthday girl & the birthday cake

2010-12-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

Luísa had her first birthday this week... yup, she's one year old now!

Here she is 'reading' a book... on her first birthday.

And here is the cake! I've made it myself. It had 2 layers of red fruits jam, the icing was mascarpone and it was covered with red fruits.

She liked it very much! Om nom nom nom...

The cutest (girly) booties

2010-10-25T01:11:00.000-07:00

I've made the Debbie Bliss booties again, this time for a girl, sweet wee Alba :)
It's the perfect present, they are just soooo cute, it's always a hit!

Baby bolero

2010-10-23T01:03:00.001-07:00

My September project: a baby bolero for Luísa! I started to follow a pattern from Debbie Bliss but ended up with a totally different edging and it was not so bad...

Here it is, a close-up from the picot edging. I had a coat with this same edge when I was a baby. It's very easy to make. I've followed these instructions.

Red booties

2010-09-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

I've made the same booties for Luísa.

Here she is posing for the photo.

Of course that what she really likes is to take them off immediately...

The cutest booties

2010-09-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my previous post was last February! Almost 6 months ago... I've done a few things but I don't have that much time to make posts...

It took me more than a month to make these cute booties for Gançalo. The pattern is from Debbie Bliss. This is the easy start!

Then, shaping the foot, it gets a bit more complex...

I know, it looks weird, but it will turn out OK. It took me a while to understand the secret of this rolled edge, but in the end it all works out very well and it is just one piece.

Here the second edge is already made

Finally the sole, knitted to the bootee.

Then is just sewing-up and voilá! I've added some light green stitches to the border.

Here they are, ready to be packed and sent to Gonçalo!

Winter rib hat

2010-02-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

Here is Luísa with her new winter hat!

Hum... cosy...

... and warm!

A simple rib stitch hat that I've made using some yarn leftovers. This stitch is very elastic, so I hope that it will fit her for quite some time.

Here is the hat before sewing. The colour combinations turned out quite well!

Dummy cloth

2010-02-02T03:30:00.000-08:00

Another baby project! A dummy cloth: a soft towelling cloth with a loop for attaching the dummy. It allows the baby to chew on the dummy and fiddle about with the cloth. It's also suppose to enable the baby to find his dummy more easily in bed and suck it back into his mouth again. I've personalized this one with Luísa's name for the creche.

Personalized clothes

2010-01-30T02:40:00.000-08:00

My first project this year: personalizing Luísa's clothes before she goes to the creche. Just a simple embroidery with chain and cross stitch.

Christmas hat

2010-01-30T02:27:00.000-08:00

It has been such a long time!
Since my baby girl Luísa was born I don't have time to do much besides taking care of her. I've managed to make her this Father Christmas hat just in time for Christmas. It's almost the same pattern as the Debbie Bliss hat with a pompom in the end.

Since it's too late to wish Merry Christmas... Happy New Year! Hopefully a year full of baby crafts!

Sweater

2009-11-22T05:25:00.001-08:00

As it's already getting quite cold here, I've also made a sweater for Mr. Bunny. This time I didn't follow any pattern, as I was using a much thinner yarn compared with the yarn that Debbie Bliss used for this pattern. But it fits!

Little dresses

2009-11-22T04:26:00.000-08:00

Here are the little red dresses I've made for the monkeys holding the curtains on my baby's room.

They continue to do their job!

Rabbit

2009-11-14T12:57:00.001-08:00

I've followed a Debbie Bliss pattern to make this little rabbit. I took the pattern from Debbie's knitting magazine spring/summer 2009 and I've used her baby cashemerino yarn. First I've knitted all the pieces separately.

And here is the final result after swing-up all the pieces and embroidering the face. A very cute little bunny!

Baby's nappies

2009-11-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

More cross stitch, this time on baby's nappies. I took the first three patterns from this website where you'll find a lot of free patterns and learn about Miffy (or Nijntje, her original Dutch name).

Baby's bibs

2009-11-14T12:12:00.000-08:00

I've been making a lot of cross stitch lately. Here are some very simple cross stitch patterns for baby's bibs.

Curtains

2009-11-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

During the weekend I've made the curtains for the baby's room. The fabric is from Ikea...

... and I've used my new sewing machine (Pfaff Hobby 1142) to do the sewing. It's a really simple project to do, you just need to make sure that you have all the measures right!

I've used these two cute little monkeys to grab the curtains. They have magnets inside their hands! I've already bought them like this, probably the idea was to grab them to the baby's cot, but I thought that they would look really nice grabbing the curtains.

Don't they look cute? Now I'm going to try to make them dresses!

The blanket is ready!

2009-11-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

I've finally finished the blanket...

... just in time for the arrival of my baby girl! Here I am this week with my 38 weeks bump! Hopefully I'll still have time to do some other projects next week!

Baby on the way!

2009-10-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

The proud-parents-to-be...

... and the growing bump at 34 weeks!

Did you notice the wallpaper border? Yes, it's from the baby's room. I'll try to make some matching items... but first I need to finish-up the blanket...

Baby blanket

2009-09-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here is my current project: a blanket for the new family member to arrive in November: my baby! It's a very simple pattern, all in garter stitch with little holes on the edges to put a ribbon all around it. I'm using Debbie Bliss's baby cashmerino, this yarn is great! I'm more or less in the middle of it. It should measure around 80 by 80 cm when it's finished. Although I'm happy that I just have to knit and don't bother to follow any instructions to increase or decrease, I think it will take me quite some time to finish-up... I think it's my biggest knitting project ever.

Pink baby set II

2009-09-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

I've done another pink baby set (booties and hat) for Selina, the baby daughter of a friend of mine. It's similar to the one I've made last year. I've followed Debbie Bliss's pattern for the hat but I innovated a bit with the booties. I've followed the baby sandals pattern just until I had the basic foot shape and then I've continued knitting a little tube. I think they've turned out to be really nice, plus I think that they'll hold on better then the sandals.

I'm going to try and make these same booties with 5 needles, and I'll try to get pictures of the all process. By working with the 5 needles, I'll be able to finish-up a bootee almost without any sewing, which is the only thing that I don't like in these booties I've made for Selina... I need practice my sewing...

Embroided handkerchiefs

2009-08-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some old-fashioned lady's handkerchiefs I've hand embroidered for my grandmother. I've done the same pattern in green, pink, yellow and blue. Today it's her birthday. Happy birthday grandma!

My tomatoes!

2009-08-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

I'm so proud of my tomatoes! I've already eten a couple of them... omelets with tomato salad... hum...

6 little tomatoes just picked-up from the plants!

This was the first one to become ripe!

There're more to come...

Little tomatoes

2009-06-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

My first tomatoes are starting to grow!

Blooming!

2009-06-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

My tomato plants are blooming! Looking forward for some baby tomatoes pretty soon!

Caldo verde

2009-06-01T01:04:00.000-07:00

My cabbages (kale) are growing very well and I've finally made some 'caldo verde'. The recipe is very easy. In fact, there are various recipes. This one here is pretty close to what I did.

Plants up-date II

2009-05-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Here's my celeriac! My only celeriac ('aipo' in Portuguese). It survived! I've given-up on the carrots and rucola, it just didn't work...

I've put the tomatoes in a larger pot. I've used some straws to hold them up but as they are growing so fast I'll need to get something else...

The cabbages are great, big and strong. Here you can actually also see a little carrot, but it's so tinny, I don't think that I will get carrots this year...

And finally the parsley. I've already used it to make an omelet!

Plants up-date

2009-04-19T01:40:00.000-07:00

After a short holiday in Portugal my plants keep growing well... thanks Alex for taking care of them!

Here are the ones that are doing better. The tomatoes are ready to be changed to a bigger pot. I've already moved the cabbages and the parsley and I've put them outside in my balcony. Now the weather is getting much warmer and hopefully they'll survive the change.

I've also planted carrots, rucola and celeriac, but they are not doing so well... they're still in the yogurt cups and perhaps they won't be worth a change to larger potts. I'll see, perhaps they just grow slower...

My plants are growing!

2009-03-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

I've moved my tomatoes and cabbages from the yogurt cups into some larger pots. They're looking good, although I still have them inside the house. They'll not resist the Dutch weather... rain, strong winds and 7 degrees...

Tomatoes

2009-03-09T12:39:00.001-07:00

My tomatoes are growing really fast! I've took some pictures during the weekend (with the camera almost always on the same position) and now I have this nice video to show how much they've grown in just two days.

Crocus

2009-03-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

I took these photos today in The Hague. What a lovely carpet made of yellow, white and purple crocus. It must be spring!

Crops

2009-03-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

I've started to grow some seeds last week. For the moment I'm using yogurt cups. I hope that when the weather gets better and warmer they'll will be ready to move to my balcony into some bigger pots. Rucola was the first one to germinate... I just don't understand why they all started to grow on the edge of the cup. If I remember well, I've put the seeds on the centre, odd... anyway, they're looking good and they're the first to pop out. Next was the cabbage, Portuguese 'couve galega' also looking good and strong. I'm really looking forward to some 'caldo verde' which is a traditionally Portuguese soup made with this cabbage. I cannot find it here in The Netherlands and I miss it. João also has his own yogurt cups, we're trying to determine who his the best grower. Time will tell! I'll be making some more post of the other crops sooner.

My Valentine's Munny

2009-02-19T12:09:00.001-08:00

My Valentine's Munny: he's blue when it's cold and pink when it's warmer... A project made by João, read all about it in his blog. Cute as cute can be!

Knitting with 5 needles

2009-02-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

Here's is my first knitted piece with 5 needles! I thought it would be much harder, in fact it's not that bad. Basically you start by distributing the stitches by 4 needles...

... and then start to knit in loops using the 5th needle.

This way you can create a knitted cap without having to do any sowing to join it. It looks just like a tube! At the middle I started to some some decreases and, voila: a cap for my Valentine!

I've used the same basic rib pattern and did him this nice scarf to go with the cap. Ho, and I really enjoyed working with this yarn, I've used Merino + Superwash from Lang yarns.

Bracelet

2009-01-31T07:24:00.000-08:00

I've bought some oval beads (semi-precious Russian serpentine) today and made this bracelet just using a elastic. Yes, it just took me about five minutes to make it and take the pictures! My first finished project this year!

Zimtsterne

2008-12-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Zimtsterne, cinnamon cookie stars. A traditional German Christmas recipe. The pastry is made of almonds, sugar, egg white, cinnamon an lemon zest and juice. Very nice for tea/coffee.

Red fruit cheesecake

2008-12-07T10:54:00.001-08:00

I've made another cheesecake! I've followed this recipe (sorry, it's only available in Portuguese). I've used light kwark cheese and fresh red fruits for the jam, it was delicious...

Christmas treats

2008-12-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hum... Christmas treats... lots of them! Germany has a great range of Christmas sweets, and I'm so close! I've took these pictures in Aachen last week. I'm glad I only bought two small packs, because they're already gone. I'm left with the pictures... zero calories... I'll try to make the little stars, I have the recipe.

Christmas!

2008-12-05T12:21:00.001-08:00

We're getting close! Here's a Christmas table decoration I made for my house with some recycled items from previous years and a small glass cup with a candle. Simple and effective, I'm in the mood for Christmas!

Green baby set

2008-11-16T11:12:00.000-08:00

100% Giro, 50% Mãe, 50% Pai (the portuguese for 100% Cute, 50% Mom, 50% Dad)! I've made this cute green baby set for Tiago, my new (one month old) friend! I've followed Debbie Bliss's patterns and I've used her baby cashmerino yarn. For the badges I've used felt and they've turned out really nice...

DIY earrings

2008-11-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how quick you can make a pair of earrings. You just need the items I show on the first photo and a pair of pliers. All these can easily be bought in any bead shop. I've become a fan!

More earrings

2008-11-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

This time I've bought the beads in The Hague. The top ones are made of natural stones and the others are made of glass. I've also bought the silver pieces already made so these were really quick to finish!

Berets

2008-11-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

I've bought some rowan yarn at the Afstap in Amsterdam and made these two berets. I'm still not sure if I'll keep them both... perhaps I'll choose my favorite and use the other one to make a matching scarf...

Earrings

2008-10-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

I went to a bead shop in Amsterdam yesterday, it's like beads paradise! They have all types of beads. I made these very simple earrings and perhaps I'll do a necklace or a bracelet with the 8 red beads I got left, they go well with some light pink beads I had...

Pink baby set

2008-10-12T02:21:00.001-07:00

I've finally bought the buttons and finished the pink baby set, it's ready to be sent!

Watercolours

2008-10-02T01:56:00.001-07:00

I did a watercolours course this year at the Koorenhuis in the Hague. We mostly painted dead natures and flowers. These were some of the works I did during that course. I really like the transparency effect you get when painting with this technique. I guess one of the difficulties in watercolour painting is in learning how to anticipate the behavior of water, rather than attempting to control or dominate it. Once it has dry off it's almost impossible to correct something that didn't work out very well. On the other hand you can get some pleasant surprises sometimes!

Passion fruit cheesecake

2008-09-28T02:09:00.001-07:00

Hum... another cheesecake... It's the same recipe as the one for the lime cheesecake but this time I've added passion fruit juice instead of the lime juice and I've saved a bit of gelatin to mix with the passion fruit seeds on top. It was just delicious!

Pink baby sandals

2008-09-28T01:48:00.001-07:00

I've made the sandals! I tried to follow Debbie Bliss instructions, this pattern was a bit complex for me... I did my best and they look so cute. Now I just have to find two tinny buttons and they're finished!

Pink baby hat

2008-09-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've started to make a pink baby set for a friend who is about to have a daughter. I've followed Debbie Bliss instructions and used the baby cashmerino for the hat: work 92 stitches in stocking stitch.

When it measures 14 cm you can start shaping the crown, a sequence of decreases. Finally join from the wrong side of the hat and reverse it.

The final result: it will fit from 3 to 9 month year olds. It is very easy to make for beginners. Now I'll try to make some matching pink sandals... That's a challenge...

Lime cheesecake

2008-09-14T11:40:00.001-07:00

I've made a cheesecake, a low fat cheese one! It looks good and it tastes even better... and it was surprisingly very easy to prepare!

The ingredients:

300gr of country or digestive cookies

150gr of butter

5 spoons of honey

4 gelatin sheets

3 eggs

100gr of sugar

Juice of 3 limes

400gr of low fat kwark cheese

Preparation:

1. Place the biscuits in a food processor and blitz to form fine crumbs, then mix it with the butter and the honey until everything is combined.

2. Scrape into a 24 cm diameter spring form cake tin. With the back of a spoon, press the mix into the base of the tin.

3. Put the gelatin sheets in cold water to soften.

4. Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks.

5. Beat the egg yolks with 80gr of sugar until you have a fluffy whitish creme.

6. Add the kwark cheese (or creamy yogurt).

7. Drain the gelatin sheets and melt them in the microwave (20 seconds, maximum power is enough).

8. Dissolve the melted gelatin with the lime juice and add it to the creme.

9. Whisk the egg whites with 20 gr of sugar and then add the creme to the egg whites, mix it smoothly.

10. Pour into the cake tin and smooth down gently. Chill for at least 3 hours until set.

11. To serve, run a knife between the cheesecake and the tin to loosen it. Remove the tin and base and put it on a serving plate. Enjoy!

Sea urchins and shells

2008-08-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

I caught these sea urchins and shells during my holiday in Sardinia. I'll try to make some earrings and perhaps a bracelet with the shells, I'll need to get some help from João to make the holes without destroying the shells, then I can start my jewelry tag! And with the sea urchins... I'm still not sure what to do with them... for the moment they're just lying on my desk, reminding me of the great time I had there!

iPod sock

2008-08-25T11:50:00.001-07:00

I've made this cosy sock for my iPod with some leftover yarn I got. Just have to come up with an idea to put the phones as well... perhaps I'll try to do another one using felt with two separate bags, one for the iPod, another for the phones. I've bought it already this weekend, also blue. Hope I'll be able to finish this week.

Sultana puppets

2008-08-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

I didn't make these ones myself, but they sure make a nice pair! I've won them by eating tomato & cheese biscuits. You can learn about it at Sultana's website (only in Dutch). Perhaps I'll try my own version of these hand puppets later... so these ones will have more friends to invite for coffee...

Lavender bags

2008-08-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

I've made these lavender bags for my grandmother, it's her birthday next week! I've bought the lavender last year at Provence, South of France, it smells great!

Robots

2008-07-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

We've tried our own version the the stitch robots featured on the cover of Craft:01! I've made the knitting and João made the circuits for the eyes. By pressing their necks, their eyes light up, the red eyed says 'we come in peace' and the yellow eyed says 'take me to your leader'... just kidding... it's just the eyes that work... they don't talk... yet...

Shrimp

2008-07-26T07:58:00.001-07:00

An origami shrimp, nice for dinner parties... To make this one I've followed a video. As they say, it may look complex, but it's really a cinch to make! I prefer it with the antennas to the back!

Small Box

2008-07-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

This origami box is perfect for small gifts. If it's really well made it will hold on without any glue. It's very easy to make, I've followed these instructions at origami-instructions.com

Firefly baby booties

2008-07-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

These baby booties were a co-project with João. It was our participation in a booty contest announced at Craft Magazine. I guess it was one of my first craft projects to be posted on-line. It was great to hear the good reviews, actually one of the reasons that made me start this blog to show my crafts. We've also prepared a 'how to', it is now available at Etsy and Craftzine.

Striped baby hat & socks

2008-07-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

I've finished today this adorable striped baby set. I've made it for a friend who just had a baby boy. The pattern was taken from a Debbie Bliss book (Baby Cashmerino 2) and the yarn is also from Debbie Bliss. I've bought both the book and the yarn at Woool, they have a great range of yarns for knitting.

Cushion

2008-07-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

My embroidery masterpice: a cushion made for my grandmother last summer. I took the pattern from Labores del Hogar Magazine.

Boy & Girl puppets

2008-07-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

I've made these two puppets at least 3 years ago, I can't remember very well... The bodies are made from pink pale velvet and the sweaters and hair are made from acrylic yarn. I've already washed them and they're still looking nice. Aren't they a friendly pair?

The Love monster

2008-07-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

This was my Valentine's present to João this year! I got my inspiration from a couple of monsters I saw on Craft Magazine.

Ayame

2008-07-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

I'm keen on origami, it's so much fun! I bought a pack of traditional origami paper (edo chiyogami) during a trip to Japan and I'll start to post these beauties frequently.

Tsuru

2008-07-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

The Tsuru, a classic origami model.

The Japanese have a particular sensibility that allowed them to turn the two-dimensional, flat world of paper into three-dimensional objects such as birds, animals, fancy envelops, boxes, flowers and boats, and make use of them for both play and practical purposes in day-to-day life - Kazuo Kobayashi