Latest Forum Posts by: Bastelfan

Nordheim

Performance Check

Everything’s been canceled here, too. The Christmas market was open for about two days, then it was shut down.
Only the ice rink and two food stands were allowed to stay open.
That doesn’t put me in the Christmas spirit at all. It’s a real shame, actually. It’s not very nice for all the schoolchildren.
What’s going to happen now? After all, we only have one life.

Wishing everyone a wonderful First Sunday of Advent—and you’ve all been so hard at work again.
I’m not really in the Christmas spirit yet. I did put up some decorations this morning, but when you have to work the late shift, time is tight.

Instead, I’m admiring your creations.
Steffi, your decorations look great. Is that brown thing on the right a little bird lying on its back? It looks so cute (which pattern is that?).
Your stollen smells all the way over here. It looks delicious. I haven’t even started baking cookies yet.
Sonja, your pull-through scarf looks great. Double-face really is something special, and the stitch pattern looks unique—plus, you always choose such beautiful colors.
Anja, I had to laugh out loud—your wordplay and writing style are a real treat. You always brighten our day with your good humor. Your knitting looks absolutely fantastic. Kudos for sticking with it—that’s always a challenge for me, too.
Marlies, your money cake is definitely going to be a hit with everyone, big and small, young and old. The effort alone is commendable. Some men just don’t appreciate things like that.

Well, have fun, everyone—see you later!

Naumburg

Hi Marlies,
my condolences—I’m so sorry about your uncle. But he did reach a very ripe old age.

I’m familiar with this phenomenon; it does happen. It was exactly the same with my grandma. She was almost 91.
My grandma was never sick, walked without a cane right up until the end, could still think clearly, and yet my dad had visited her the day before. “She was completely calm,” he said, and he’d even tied her shoes for her, and then she passed away that night. Her heart just stopped beating.
For the person experiencing it, it’s a peaceful death without suffering.

My grandmother was our gem—so loving, and she never complained.
I miss her because I was far away in Norway and couldn’t be there.
Now that I’m finally back in Germany, I was able to say goodbye to her at the cemetery (on the Gründen Wiese).

Warm regards

We were all on the edge of our seats wondering what Ina would receive. It really is quite a lot, and what a selection!
I had a blast, too. I’d love to join in again next time.

Thank you, Ina, for sharing this. What a lovely gift from Monika. Sweet angel.

Well then, everyone, have a wonderful time here, don’t stress about your Christmas preparations,

and I’ll see you again

soon. Best wishes, Andrea

P.S. I have to head off to my late shift right now

Sweet treats (chocolate)

Oh, Christmas cookies—I still have to bake those, too. But not just yet.
We still have gingerbread and speculoos. I’ll bake when I have a day off or an early shift.
Right now I have five late shifts, so I won’t have time.
I still need to pick up the baking ingredients. Since we moved, our supplies are running low.

Petra, that sounds delicious, but what are cinnamon pitten? Stars?

Well then, I hope you all enjoy the anticipation of Christmas :-))

You have such pretty little angels. It already looks very Christmassy at your place.
I haven’t put up any decorations yet, but I’ll get to it in the next few days.

Have a lovely evening—
there’s a lot going on here again. I had the day off today, so I had time to check in here again.

Wow, Steffi, your loop scarf turned out great. Even the pattern and the colors are very pretty.

Monika, you’ve really outdone yourself again. Gorgeous colors in your yarn box. That yellow is so bright and cheerful. You do a lot of crocheting with thick and felting yarn. We’re looking forward to seeing your creations.

Anja, I’ve never heard of a breathing trainer like that—how does it work? Hopefully it helps you a little. I’m sure we’ve all experienced that feeling when you can’t get any air, or you’ve choked on something—that’s when panic sets in. Even a tiny crumb in your throat is enough to set it off. At least for me.

Your pet stories sound really interesting. It’s true—it breaks your heart when a little birdie like that flies right into the window. That happened with my budgie back then, too. He was free to fly around, and we had the curtain pulled aside, so Hansi thought he could go outside, and… then he flew into the window. But everything turned out okay in the end.

Today, two great tits were sitting on our balcony, too. But they flew off right away.
Soon we’ll set up a birdhouse, and maybe my husband’s GoPro camera. Because every now and then, a buzzard sits on the roof across the street—pretty big, as far as we can tell. I’m sure we’ll get some great shots with a telephoto lens.

Have a lovely evening with your crafts

Best wishes, Andrea

Happy birthday, best wishes, and good health!

Congratulations on your special day today. All the best

Coasters

That’s right—nothing works without music.

The user below me likes to ride a bike out in nature

Good evening,

ruthk, I feel exactly the same way. And everyone found something for themselves, which is great.
I’m also curious to see what kind of yarn Ina will be receiving now.
Monika, you’re welcome. I’m glad. I was happy to do it.

I’ll definitely join in again next time. It’s just fun.

Well then, good night

I found this for myself, but now it’s finally on its way to you, Monika.

Monika, you have something to look forward to. The swap package was sent off today.
Have fun with it.

Have a nice weekend

Thank you, Josefa—I wish the same for you too, and of course for everyone else here on the forum.

Unfortunately, I have to work. Every employee is needed, since some colleagues are off sick and now also with COVID-19; there are already COVID-19 cases on the two lower floors. Not yet up here, but all the residents have to stay in their rooms for now.
We’re all being tested every day.

It’s really sad.

Ina, it’s great that you’re giving us a peek into your beauty routine. I’d love to stop by sometime.
The before-and-after picture is really amazing. And so simple. Thanks for the tip.

When it comes to the hair on my crocheted figures, I handle it differently depending on the project.
Sometimes I first crochet a cap in the hair color and then knot in the strands.

Other times, I crochet a cap normally in rounds, but into the back loop only. Then I crochet chain-stitch strands into the back loops and slip stitch back (starting from the top and working spirally downward). For example, make a chain of chain stitches into one back loop, depending on the length, slip stitch back, single crochet into the next back loop, alternating, and so on.

For smaller figures, I take strands of yarn—depending on the hair length—and lay them across the head, then sew them in place at the center of the head with a needle and thread. Then I braid the strands on the left and right into plaits and secure the side plaits to the head with 2–3 stitches.

For a ponytail, I tie the strands only to the bottom edge of the hair cap, and then I gather everything upward into a ponytail with an elastic band.

You can also crochet the strands of hair directly into the rounds of the hair cap. If you crochet 2 or 3 stitches into one stitch, you’ll get curly locks.

You can also glue this store-bought angel hair to the head with fabric glue, but I’m still experimenting to see if it holds properly.

Hi everyone,

Sandra, your little gnomes turned out really cute. It’s lovely that you’re showing them to us now. A really nice idea.

Now about the yarn swap package.
Yay, it arrived yesterday. You guys are crazy—I wasn’t expecting such a huge package at all. 
I’d just gotten off my late shift and just had to open it—out of sheer curiosity. What a selection! There was something for me too, and it really wasn’t easy to decide.

Here’s what I’ve picked out so far. The cuddly yarn just called out to me. And I’ve always wanted to have such a huge ball of yarn.


Monika, you’re next, so you can start looking forward to it. Have fun—I certainly did.

Best regards
Andrea

Hey there,

you’re all hard at work again. Too bad for me—I won’t be able to join in this week because I’m working late shifts until Sunday. You don’t get to enjoy the day at all, and after work I just collapse into bed, especially since I don’t get home until 9:30 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. (depending on the late shift).
Monika, your Turbo Loop (I’ll call it that because you’re always so quick) looks so great—those would have been my colors too.
I’m sure it looks totally great on you. Maybe you could take a photo of yourself wearing it sometime. I like DF because it gets nice and thick and keeps you warm, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Sonja , oh, so that’s how big it’s supposed to be. Have you ever tried that colorful printer paper in A4 format, if that size works for you?
Maybe I’ll manage to make one too—then you’ll definitely get to see a photo of it. Folding is faster than crocheting, after all. We’ll see.

Good to know about the knitting board . You have to help yourself. I usually need my templates on a single sheet too, for a better overview.

Have fun. I’m slowly getting ready for the late shift.

I wish you all a lovely afternoon.
Finally, the workday is over, and we also had some delicious cake from the bakery—a cherry roll and cream-filled pastries.

Thanks for the compliments, and I’m glad you want more (cake).
It’s actually supposed to be a Christmas cake according to the pattern, but you’re right—it could also be a Black Forest cake; I like those too.

Sonja, do you make Bascetta stars too? I use this origami paper for them, or that colorful kind you also use for those flower balls by Karin Ji... Mayer.
That one was made by putting individual modules together, right? I could make that again for Christmas decorations at home.
I’ve also made it before using regular colorful notepads. That worked, too.

Petra, I really like your acorns, too, but that little one there is so cute. Is that glittery yarn?

Steffi, I’ve never heard of a “knitting board” like that. Did you make it yourself, or did it come like that? I think it’s very practical for crochet, knitting, and embroidery patterns.

Warm regards from me

True—I got that one.

The user below me is good with their hands.

I’m really looking forward to it, Christina.

Have a nice evening!

Hi Sandra,

I’d also like to wish you a very happy belated birthday.
That sounds great—I’m glad you had a wonderful day. All the best to you, and stay just the way you are.

Warm regards
Andrea

wrap everything up nicely.

Hi everyone,

I’ve finished another little project. The pattern is from here on the blog page.
It looks delicious. Now all that’s missing is Mrs. Claus.
Thanks for the great pattern. It was fun to make.

:-)) Oops, Monika—we wrote at the same time again!

Wow, that really went fast. So I’ll be the lucky one next time. Unbelievable.
I still can’t believe it.

Christina, I’m so happy for you that you found something suitable for your projects.
I’m curious to see what I’ll get.
It’s crazy how many types and colors of yarn there are.

Hugs, Andrea

Baumkuchen

In the past it was more boots (like in Pretty Woman), with little skirts; these days, though, it’s ankle boots and pants.
Even in Norway I hardly wore boots. I had my hiking shoes or ankle-high shoes with fur inside. Since they had dry, cold winters there, those ankle boots were definitely enough.
I like leather ankle boots. The ones made of suede don’t do well at all in thawing weather. I had those too. Never again.
Above all, they need to have a nice thick, non-slip, ridged sole, although those little pebbles always got stuck in it.
In any case, I always picked out shoes that would go with skirts as well as with pants.

I used to love going to Carnival events and dressing up. But in recent years, that’s faded a bit.
Most of the time I had to work the next day, so you can’t really party that hard.
In Norway, it wasn’t such a big deal, so I didn’t do much of it.

But when I had to work on November 11th, I heard there was a small Carnival parade going through town, and they passed by our nursing home, where we could watch from the balcony. We brought some of the residents down to watch.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have my cell phone handy. Too bad.

I used to love dressing up my kids when they had carnival celebrations at preschool. I improvised a lot myself and decorated their costumes with sequins.

You have some lovely, funny pet stories to tell.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any pets anymore, but we used to have a few (fish, a turtle, a budgie, a white mouse, a hamster)

So here’s my story: I used to have a budgie who was very tame and gifted at talking. He was also allowed “free flight” around the apartment sometimes.

Anyway, we were just in the kitchen preparing lunch, peeling potatoes, when Hansi suddenly flew right onto my hand to nibble on the potato. I had to be careful not to cut his little legs.
When we were eating, he flew onto the table, nibbled on the boiled potato, and then ran right through the sauce on my plate. That was really funny. I often think back on that.

Good evening,

Sandra, you really picked out some wonderful yarn. I personally especially like the light blue one too. I'm already excited to see what arrives for me, but until then I'll keep practicing patience.
Glühweinwichtel sounds fun. Exactly, we all want to admire him once he's finished. We're excited.

Exactly, Ina, I would also join the yarn swap package again next year. The more people take part, the more interesting and varied the selection will be. This will be fun.

Best wishes
Andrea

False. I cook regular stuff, no experiments—only when I’m baking.

The user below me likes cappuccino

Happy birthday, Kuema, on your birthday today, and wishing you lots of luck and good health.
Keep up the great work with your creative ideas and the fantastic videos that I always enjoy watching.

Warm regards
Andrea

Hi everyone,

that’s lovely, Monika, and where can I find it? Do only shop owners get this link?

great, Marlies.

Oops, I was in the wrong place. I found it. Thanks.

Hi Josefa,
Thanks. I’ve already contacted support and am waiting for a reply.
I won’t do anything before then.

Hello support,

since I started the “Christmas Secret Santa thread” here in the crochet forum and would like to organize it, but it isn’t an official CP event, my question is: how does this work? I don’t want to do anything wrong.
No lists of names will appear in the forum. Everything will be arranged “among ourselves.” Is that okay with you, and are we allowed to carry out this event?

Thank you very much for your help

Best regards, Bastelfan

True, the selection really is huge.

The user below me likes to travel

everything is done.

take care of it. But until…

False

The user below me likes dolls.

me again,

first of all, thank you so much for your interest. I’ve never organized anything like this myself before either, and I’d like to do it, but there’s so much to keep in mind.
Ina is right about the high postage costs. That would be unfair to the others.

@baluque: maybe you’d like to take care of the participants in Austria, and I’ll take those in Germany? What do you think?

I’m definitely joining in too

You’re right, Inge—I’d forgotten that. Thanks.
Up to 10 euros is fine

Thank you. I wish you all a relaxing weekend, too.

I’ve made it through my first week at work, and I’m looking forward to my well-deserved weekend. I might do some crocheting, sleep in, and relax. Nothing planned.

Mixing ratio

Tree: buy and decorate a Christmas tree