Latest Forum Posts by: Bastelfan

Here’s how I used up my scraps: leaves for a crochet picture, a small armchair for the dollhouse, the little squares for a small bag, and the long blue piece will become a cover for a TaTüBox.

Great. My yarn for the package is already ready, too.
I’m still busy crocheting up my leftovers to make room for new ones.

Veronika, I would have liked your yarn colors too. Maybe something suitable will make its way into the swap package. I’m curious to see.

Wishing you all a lovely evening,

and also a happy wedding anniversary, and to everyone on holiday, a good rest.

Thanks to Ina as well for the 4th yarn swap package. I’m already looking forward to it.

I have two days off now, and I need them to recover. I hope I can crochet again.
On Tuesday, my parents want to take us on a little steamboat trip. Getting out and relaxing again will be nice.

Best wishes

Hi Ina,

yes, I definitely want to join again. It’s so much fun.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Hey Josefa,

I really like origami. These different folding techniques are truly fascinating—there are so many possibilities.
Sometimes it’s really hard to choose. I often need little things for greeting cards—like a heart or a four-leaf clover—or small gift bags, boxes, or packaging for little good-luck charms.
The variety is sooooo vast, and it’s really fun.

Best wishes
and wishing you all a pleasant midweek!

Thanks, Josefa and Petra.

I have the day off tomorrow, but I still have to make a birthday card for my mom and wrap a gift—if everything arrives on time today.
But then it’s back to crocheting. After all, I need space for the next yarn swap package.

Hey Josefa,

I have several projects planned for this yarn.
I still needed the yellow for a duck, as well as for a crocheted Mickey Mouse (haven’t started it yet).
I bought the colorful skein as a backup for the RvO sweater I’ve already started.

I haven’t been able to do much crocheting lately (I’m always so tired after work).

Hope you all have a great start to the new week!

Thanks, Josefa—I wish the same for you and everyone else here.
Inge, I hope you have a wonderful celebration.

I have to work this weekend again, but at least I just had two days off.

I’ll be doing some crocheting here and there in between. I’ve also got some unfinished projects sitting in a box.

Hi everyone, 

I was actually planning to use up some of my yarn stash, but I still needed the right yarn for a project. I just couldn’t resist.

Enjoy the ocean

Good evening at this late hour,

Veronika and Monika, I’d also like to offer my belated congratulations on your 30th wedding anniversary.
That’s such a lovely gift from your friends. It really warms the heart when it’s presented so lovingly wrapped.
I’m also one of those people who can enjoy the little things.

Hope you’re all doing well. Have a good week ahead

Best regards

Barbecue night with friends

You’ve all summed it up perfectly.
If I like something, I buy it. Because I know that handicrafts involve a lot of work, and a lot of effort goes into the pattern, which you’re happy to reward. But, as mentioned earlier, there should be a healthy balance between price and product.
Of course, you’re happy about discount offers. I certainly don’t say no to those.

Hello everyone,

I also wish you a wonderful, relaxing weekend with a bit of relief from the heat.
Dear Monika, I hope you have a lovely celebration.
Have fun, Petra, with your surprise. Cute duck photo.

I already have the day off today, so it’s a long weekend—it’ll be quiet and relaxing, with crafts, sleeping in, drinking cappuccino, and eating delicious store-bought cake and ice cream.
Maybe there’ll be Sunday dancing again—we’ll see.

Warm regards

Hi everyone,

you’ve really put it into words beautifully—that we’re allowed to be here. I’ve felt very comfortable here in the forum from the very beginning, and I’m glad. It’s like a big family where every little problem is heard. You’re all great.

The heat is getting to everyone right now. Stay healthy anyway—drink plenty of fluids, cool off, and don’t overexert yourselves…
…which is difficult for me as a caregiver. We work on the 4th floor, practically under the roof, where the heat really builds up. I’m really struggling with it, and so are the many elderly residents, of course. How are you supposed to air out the room when it’s hotter outside than inside?

Oh, Inge, the way you always write about this—so humorous, but also sad—shows just how stressful this is for you, and perhaps for many other older people here as well.
Everyone’s hoping for rain. Everything’s parched and dry. That’s just how nature is.

So we have to find distractions with crafts, cold foot baths, and eating ice cream.

Warm regards from me

Good morning, everyone!

Last night at work, a gorgeous sunset

Belated happy birthday, and best wishes for good luck and good health

Warm regards

Wow, a butterfly and a bee at the same time. Great snapshots :-)

That’s true—you only see a butterfly every now and then. So your lovely snapshots of them are all the more delightful, of course. I love colorful butterflies.
Thank you so much for sharing them.

Sure, you have your worries, but we’re still taking it in stride—or at least not stressing about it yet.
We save water wherever we can. For example, with those “quick” trips to the bathroom—we don’t always flush right away. The water meter’s still running, after all. In Norway, electricity and water were very, very cheap—there are plenty of waterfalls to power the system, after all. They don’t have water meters there.

As for regular groceries, you always have something in the house. But toilet paper and cappuccino/coffee—you’ve got to have a stockpile of those.
Exactly—I also remember using newspaper from my grandma’s days, and the outhouse.

In the GDR, we were raised to be frugal anyway, and we learned to improvise when the going got tough.
But flashlights, batteries, and candles—it’s really important to stock up on those.

Stay healthy, everyone, and don’t drive yourselves crazy.

Really great photos, Gabi, that you’re showing us here. I love looking at things like that, too.
We saw a sand sculpture exhibition like this years ago on the Baltic Sea—I think it was on Rügen. It’s always amazing to see what some people can create out of sand.

Thank you so much for sharing.

Hi Sandra,
I hope you get well soon, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for your upcoming vacation.
You’ve crocheted some lovely things during this time—that’s a good sign.

Sending you lots of love and get-well wishes from me

Hi Anja, I’m glad you like it. Thank you.
The bunny pattern is by “Schneckenkind” here. It’s really fun to crochet.

Oh, how cute, Monika. That’s such a lovely idea with the little boleros. It really adds a special finishing touch to the rest of the outfits for the dolls.

Ruth, your firefly is just great. I knew this glow-in-the-dark yarn existed, but I haven’t tried it yet. It really does seem to glow brightly in the dark. Also great for bag charms or crocheted ghosts/spirits.

Have a wonderful evening, everyone!

Hi there,

I have something new to show you again. Mosaic and c2c techniques. Front and back.
And another bunny for my coworker—she needs a replacement because the other one gets cuddled too much. That really makes me happy.

Oh dear, Anja, that’s just not right. My hands always have to be busy, too—whether it’s crafts or painting/drawing. But you’re not even allowed to do that.
I hope you get better soon so you can get back to your projects.
Hang in there—you can do it.

I like to work with thinner needles because the stitch pattern is finer. However, the handles have to be thicker than the thin needles; otherwise, I also get problems in my hands and fingers.

Hi everyone,

I sometimes have this problem too.
For small, round mochillas/pouches/bags, depending on the size, I place a blank CD between the two bottom pieces. Yes, you have to crochet the bottom twice.

Or I cut the piece out of an old placemat—there are thick, sturdy plastic ones, or you can layer several on top of each other—and crochet around it.

That’s how I do it. I’ll have to keep the wool felt idea in mind. Thanks for the tip.

Hi aivlis 1,

I have the crochet book "Childhood Heroes 3" by Alexandra Schwarz. It has something like Tom and Jerry in it. Take a look. You can find it at a....n. Maybe that will help you.

Best regards

Thank you, Ina, for sharing your post about this new find. It sounds interesting and simple.
There are just the two of us, too, and this lid promises little effort and is easy to use. It’s crazy how technology changes.
I remember this from back in the day with my mom. That big gray pot with a hole in the lid and a thermometer inside. Ah, those were the days.

Steffi, your gloves are beautiful. I can’t manage to do that myself. I can’t get the hang of a set of double-pointed needles either. I do have that other curved size 2 knitting needle, but I haven’t tried it out yet.
But these gloves also remind me of Norway—they knit a lot there, and this style too. All those gorgeous patterns really fascinated me.
You’ve really got a knack for this. Great job.

Thank you for your feedback.

Yes, Monika, that’s going to be the RvO sweater (pattern from here). This pattern has been on my list for a very long time.

Warmest congratulations from me, too—wishing you good luck and good health

Hi there,

I’m working in this thin pink yarn from the swap package because I’m not sure whether my own yarn will be enough. Just for contrast. Maybe I’ll crochet in the light blue yarn from the swap package too.
I can only crochet a few rows at a time in between other things.
This is what it looks like right now.

All right, Josefa.

Oh my, I’m completely out of the loop. That made it all the more enjoyable to look at your creations.

ines, I think your scarf is really beautiful with that pattern. It looks complicated.
Your grandma and grandpa are just brilliant, sitting there on the “retirees’ bench.” You did a great job with them. I wouldn’t want to part with them. I could look at those two all the time.

Veronika, your Aquarius is a real stunner, it turned out great. I like it. I really like crocheted figures. By the way, I’m married to a Pisces. That has to do with water, too.

Hopefully I’ll be able to show something again soon. It really bugs me that when I’m always working the late shift, I hardly get any time to crochet.

Ina, you’ve ordered some gorgeous colors there. I like them too (except for the green and dark gray).
I’m curious to see what you’ll make with them.

Oh, sorry, Josefa. Now I understand. Is it okay to post the link to that sweater page here?

Yes, me. I found this gorgeous unicorn yarn with glitter at T..i. It’s nice and soft despite the glitter thread, and pretty thin.
I’d like to crochet an RVO sweater out of it (pattern from here). I’ll use the thin pink swap yarn for the contrasting stripes. 
This is as far as I’ve got so far

Thank you so much for your compliments. And I had a lot of fun crafting again.
The birthday cards are all written too.
Now I’m going back to crocheting.

Inge, you always make such pretty things. I like your keychains.
Is it made of felt?

Oh, Inge, by the way, I really like your new avatar picture.

Hi everyone,

I hope you all have a great weekend. Unfortunately, the heat is still lingering. No relief in sight. If you open the windows, all that comes in is warm air anyway.
It was so nice at the Baltic Sea.

I made a special trip into town today to buy a small table fan. No luck. The ones available start at 50–70 euros and up. Nah, thanks. Guess I’ll just keep sweating. Darn.
They’re probably hard to find in this sweltering heat.

Since the birthday gift is finished, I can get back to crocheting.

Hugs from me

Birthday gift for his 60th. A “survival kit,” so to speak.
The birthday card is for his wife. It also comes with a framed quote made of wood and metal. Unfortunately, it’s already wrapped (bought at the Baltic Sea).
Here you go.

We went on vacation without any yarn —there wasn’t any room left in the suitcase. We did so much that there wasn’t any time to crochet anyway. It was still a bit strange, though.

The vacation’s over for now. We went to Hamburg to see the Tina Turner musical, visited the Landungsbrücken, and walked along the Reeperbahn; then we headed to Kühlungsborn on the Baltic Sea. We took the Molli train to Bad Doberan, spent a day in Rostock—beach, Ferris wheel, ice cream, coffee and cake, fish sandwiches…
yep, and just like that, it was over.

It was really nice.

Thanks, Ines and Monika —unfortunately, we’re back in the “heat zone” again :-)

Monika , your quadruplets look so cute in their little dresses. It’s crazy how different the little dresses look when you use a different color for each one.

I won’t be able to do any crafting for now. I only have a few days left to make a gift for a 60th birthday. We’re invited to a double birthday party (meaning two people are celebrating).
I’ll buy the “ingredients” for it tomorrow. I’ll make something fun.

Best regards

Thank you all.
Unfortunately, the vacation is already over. We’ve arrived home. Pictures will come later.

As soon as we got here, the heat hit us, and the air conditioning on the trains was broken—we were sweltering. It wasn’t pleasant.
I read that it’s supposed to get even hotter starting Monday—oh dear.

Hi there, yarn lovers!

You’ve been busy again.
That embroidery is quite a labor of love. Great job.
I’m still on vacation. Didn’t bring any yarn, and no internet either—Wi-Fi issues. I can post from my phone, though.
Have fun the rest of the way.

Wow, that looks great.

We’re on vacation right now in Kühlungsborn. There’s a bit of a breeze here. A pleasant 25°. We were even able to ride the Ferris wheel in the evening and sit on the beach watching the sun set.

Kind regards from the coast

Thank you all. And here’s the version made from leftover yarn, and the back side