Summer Fun

Hi everyone!

I've been terribly slack with blogging for a while - there's been lots going on, and I haven't really _finished_ anything to show you! So, here's a little catch up post with a lot of photos and WIPs :) 

Christmas at the Lake was excellent, even though the weather was very variable. Sometimes it was too hot and humid to be alive, and then we had torrential rain - the lake even flooded in early January! 

But, bad outside weather makes for good inside baking weather :) I experimented with a few new recipes, and using the Thermomix to do the kneading saves me so much energy! My favourite bread recipe website expired though, so there was some frantic googling of cached pages to retrieve the recipes.

I did loads of cross-stitch. The Winter Sparkle is coming to life! It's now almost half done! 

I finished the Persian Tiles Afghan kit, which Anne sent me for my birthday :) It was so much fun to make, and I adore the pattern. Jane must have shares in a stitch marker factory though because the patten wanted me to have and use so many! I've asked my mum if she would like a king sized version as a summer bedspread :) (this pic is unfinished, I'm waiting until closer to the Easter Show to block it)

I made some teddies, of course. The little one is the Heart Teddy, and the rainbow one is the Cross Your Heart Teddy.

I also had some time and brain to have a play with some new patterns! Here are three colourful mandalas that I'm going to use as doilies (unblocked in these photos):

1. Starflower Mandala by Zooty Owl

2. Sunflower Mandala by Zooty Owl

3. Minimalist Cabled Mandala by Lilla Björn Crochet

I fell in love with this lacy star motif, and I'm very excited to start working on a version in midnight blue, with some of the star outlines picked out in surface slip stitches using silver thread! Here's a sample I did in a lovely grey mix lace yarn :)

Right now on my hook is another Zig Zag Tote Bag, this time with a leeeetle bit more planning in the colours - I'm doing a 24 colour rainbow! It's kinda nice to be doing something that doesn't require a lot of attention or counting (after the first few rows). Love rainbows :D

Phew! I think that's an update on me! 

Summerdays in Dortmund

Hi from Germany!

You might have noticed that there was no blog post last week - which is unusual as Michelle and I aim for two posts a week. The reason for the no post week? Well, we planned to publish two patterns last week and write about it on the blog with discount codes and such.

Due to unforeseen problems with paypal, the publishing did not happen. We tried to set up a joined account as we would like to use the little money from the patterns for the blog; that is give aways, promotions and such. Who would have thought, a joined account could be so complicated?! Certainly not us. Well, right now we are waiting for paypal to reply to our request. Fingers crossed it will happen soon!

On a lighter note: Summer has arrived in Germany! With full force. We have degrees above 30°C this week and for Thursday they are talking about close to 40°C. Ouch. I love the sun but I am not good with hot weather. It makes me exhausted and everything feels harder to do. Even crochet! Gasp! Germany isn't prepared for the heat like other countries (i.e. Australia), so there are hardly any air cons or even fans in the bedroom. 

What do you crochet during summer times? I am busy making lots of blankets but the larger they get, the warmer they become on my lap. Hm. I might switch to making toys for a while. Or making a sun hat. I would love to have a straw sunhat but so far I have found none that I like. Perhaps I should crochet my own?!

Did any of you crochet with straw yet? I imagine it being pretty hard on the hands but really, I have no idea!

My favourite crochet spot in the evenings!

I hope the summer sun isn't bothering you too much (or the winter cold) wherever you are!

Take care

Anne